Maximum Ride, The Early Years
by wingedthing1026
Summary: We all know what happened durring the books, but what about before? What were the years in between like, when the Flock was new to their E shaped house, and Jeb was still there to look after them? K plus incase I do more with later chapters. Nothing icky, though! Includes ALL characters, not just Fang and Iggy! rate? comment?
1. Iggy

It was a quiet springtime day at the E shaped house on the cliff. The leaves were just beginning to uncurl from their buds, the sky cloudless and blue. On that secluded mountaintop, the laughter of six little children could be heard ringing through the crisp, dewy air. A man, Jeb, sat sitting on the back steps, holding a very little girl, Angel, and watching a toddler, who had earned himself the name of Gasman, pull the grass from the lawn. The others, four-year-old Nudge, Max, the oldest, who was eight, and Iggy and Fang, both seven, ran and played in the yard, climbing trees, playing tag, and learning to fly, stretching their wings through the holes cut in their t-shirts with the kitchen scissors.

Max had always been a 'leader'…or more simply put, bossy. She always dictated what games they would play, what 'base' was in tag, and who was 'it' for hide and seek, and at times, she appeared to really intimidate the other, younger children, but today, thus far, anyway, they all seemed to be getting along rather well. Max was swinging on the tire Jeb had tied to a tree limb that overhung the yard. Nudge was playing with her baby-doll in the grass, picking flowers and putting them in the doll's wavy hair. Fang had Iggy by the hand, guiding his friend around the expansive yard, stopping occasionally to let Iggy catch his bearings or to smell the flowers or feel the gnarled, cracked bark of an ancient tree. Iggy had recently had his vision taken from him, and was still learning how to cope and how to take in the world around himself without his sight. Jeb was very grateful to Fang for helping Iggy along, for, even though he willingly took the children out of their less-than-perfect situation, he couldn't take care of the two babies and a blind child. He felt horrid to even think it, but he knew Iggy was going to struggle, and he couldn't take care of him on his own.

Max jumped from the tire swing, opening her downy wings just for a moment in the air before landing and running over to Fang and Iggy. Jeb smiled rather meekly to himself, wondering what she was going to say to them.

Iggy had once been very talkative and happy, always smiling and laughing and making jokes, but after losing his sight not even a week ago, he had changed. He had become quiet and introverted and lonely, and Jeb wasn't sure what to do; though Iggy was taking his new lifestyle very badly, Max was also a bit confused about what had happened. She didn't seem to grasp that Iggy wasn't the same as he had been before, not yet, anyway. Max was a smart little girl, but she did expect everyone to understand what she meant and to do what she said, and when Iggy couldn't physically or mentally grasp her wants, she would get frustrated. Because of this, Jeb watched carefully when Max tapped Fang on the shoulder and pointed to the small swing set Jeb had built for them. The three children headed towards the structure about twenty yards from the house. Iggy held Fang's hand, walking about an arm's length behind him, as Fang followed Max, who shortly began to break into a run. Fang followed shortly, speeding up considerably, but without warning to Iggy, who tried his best to run on such short notice, but wound up with his face in the grass, dirt in his mouth.

Fang stopped immediately when Iggy's hand slid out of his. Max continued running, only stopping when she had reached the swing set. She was puzzled when she turned around and Fang wasn't behind her, and sighed, exasperated, before walking back halfway across the property to where Fang was tending Iggy, who was now in tears, on the ground.

"What happened?" Max asked, kneeling down beside Fang, the knees of her jeans green from the grass.

"Iggy fell." Fang explained. Iggy howled, partially hurt physically, but also extremely frustrated. Fang grabbed his wrists and hauled the little strawberry blonde upright to a sitting position where he continued to cry, his sightless, glassy eyes pouring tears that stung his raw cheeks. Young, emerald grass shoots sprouted from his orange hair, and dirt clung to his pale nose.

"How come you fell, Iggy?" Max asked, not meaning to be insensitive, her wavy blonde hair hanging over her shoulder as she looked down at Iggy, who was slouched over, weeping into his hands. He said nothing, which made Max a bit miffed. "Iggy how come you fell down?" she asked again, a bit more intense this time. Iggy began sniffling, his breathing sped up, simply sobbing. "Ig-gy!" Max sang. Wanting an answer.

"Max he can't see." Fang said suddenly. Fang was relatively quiet. He was a quiet individual who preferred to stay out of confrontation, but Iggy was obviously unable to speak for himself at the moment. Max was a bit taken aback.

"Yes I know." She said, putting a hand on Iggy's shoulder. "Iggy are you okay? Did Fang run to fast is that why you fell, huh?" he shook his head, his thin, shaggy hair sticking to his forehead, which was cradled in his hands.

"can't see." He mumbled, in between broken breaths. Max just looked down, feeling sorry for prodding so. She took Iggy's hand, allowing Fang to take the other, and together they stood him up. Iggy just stood limply, his head hanging low, his hair in his face. Fang, who was considerably bigger than Iggy, picked him up on his back and walked Iggy back to the house, walking up the stairs beside Jeb, who had watched the events unfold. Max followed them, jumping up the stairs to hold the door for the boys.

Fang dropped Iggy off on the sofa, where he continued to sob, and Max covered him with his favorite blanket she had retrieved from his and Fang's shared bedroom. This had happened almost every day: Iggy became severely depressed, and Max and Fang did their best to cheer him up, followed by Jeb when all else failed. They always brought him to the sofa in front of the wall of windows overlooking the vista. Even though he couldn't see it, the sunlight hit his face and created a calming, soothing sensation that Iggy so greatly valued.

"Don't be sad, Ig." Fang said, squatting beside the sofa, his hand rubbing Iggy's head, picking out the grass that stuck there. "We'll help you out, don't worry." Iggy continued to cry quietly, rubbing his eyes as if to wipe the blindness away, obviously to no avail.

"Want me to put the TV on?" Max asked, grabbing the long black remote control from the back of the sofa, flipping on the television and sitting in the arm chair just beside the couch. She giggled shortly, chuckling at one of the Disney character's faces, the laughter of an unseen audience accompanying Max's own laughing. "Fang did you see that?!" she laughed, pointing to the screen, kicking her feet, the remote in her hands. Fang said nothing, and Iggy howled in agony.

"I want to see it!" I yelled, choking out the words, his voice raspy from crying. He coughed as Fang sat beside him on the sofa, letting Iggy put his face on his shoulder. He wrapped his strong but slender arms around his sniffling friend, rubbing the red-head's back. Max flipped off the TV, frowning and feeling very awkward. She wasn't very good at sympathy, and though she tried hard, she always seemed to make matters worse, especially when it came to Iggy. Iggy was a puzzlement to her since he had gone blind, and she wasn't really sure what to do with him anymore. He was moody and hard to understand to everyone, not just her. Everyone but Fang.

Iggy was completely and totally introverted with Fang being the one and only exception. Fang was the only one Iggy would respond to. Even Jeb couldn't get through to him when Iggy was really indignant.

"I..I'll leave, okay?" Max said, standing up and putting the remote back on the back of the sofa, deciding it best to withdraw herself from the situation. She walked back outside, closing the door quietly, leaving Fang and Iggy alone on the couch in a puddle of sunlight.

Fang held Iggy close, letting him cry. He needed to let it all out of his system, all of the pain and anguish he had lived through. Fang was the very last one to see him before the white coats sedated him. He was the last to see the fear in Iggy's face, his bright eyes full of horror, but gleaming with life, with the job of sight. And Fang was the last person Iggy ever saw. That was why Iggy was so open to Fang: he knew exactly what Fang looked like, what he smelled like, how his footsteps sounded. Fang was his eyes. He had to trust him.

Fang always felt guilty about what had happened to Iggy, feeling like it was his fault. Iggy wasn't one to struggle with the white coats. He had decided that it was best to just let them do what they wanted and not put up a fight. Either way they were going to torture you, so you might as well make things go faster and cause yourself less pain and anticipation of the inevitable. Fang, on the other hand, always fought back. Nobody got near his cage without leather gloves and long sleeves, for Fang would bite and kick and scream. That day Iggy's sight was taken, they had gone to Fang's cage first. A young woman, one of the newer scientists, had been told to fetch any one of the avian children (any of them except 30445, who was Max, of course) to have their eyes enhanced: an experiment to see if the procedure was effective enough to be used on their real project: Max.

She obviously didn't know what she was doing, and opened Fang's cage without a second thought. He bolted, then kicked and howled and bit and scratched at her until she released him and locked him up again. She moved directly onto the next cage, which happened to hold the more subdued Iggy, who was subsequently taken in to surgery, looking back at Fang with tear filled eyes for the last time.

Fang always thought that, had he cooperated just that one time, he could have saved Iggy a lifetime of hardships. He would have taken Iggy's place any day, seeing how torn apart his best friend was. Fang would have coped…or maybe he wouldn't have even gone blind. What if there had been some discrepancy in Iggy to begin with that made the experiment go horribly wrong? What if it would have worked on Fang? The thought made him sick to his stomach, that he could be at fault for Iggy's suffering.

After a while, Iggy's crying subsided and he lay still, his head rested against Fang's stomach, Fang sitting sideways on the couch, his legs on either side of Iggy's body. He scratched Iggy's head, his thin hair yielding to Fang's long fingers, feeling Iggy's chest rise and fall against his own body. He brushed the sticky reddish hair off of Iggy's sweaty forehead, continued pulling out straggling bits of grass as he combed his fingers through Iggy's hair.

"I love you, Fang." Iggy said suddenly, almost too quietly to hear.

"I love you too, Iggy."


	2. Max

It was near one in the morning when there was a frantic pounding at Max's bedroom door. Little eight year old Max was startled right out of her blankets, her big brown eyes wide and alert, until she heard the sobbing outside her door.

She slid out of bed quietly, not wanting to wake Iggy and Fang on the other side of the wall, and slid on her socks to the door, opening it slowly to see little Nudge beside herself, holding her dolly close, nearly strangling the poor cloth girl. No sooner had Max cracked the door did the little girl lunge and grasp her around the waist, crying loudly, tears flooding her big dark eyes. Max closed the door and took the little girl by the hands, walking her over and lifting her onto the bed.

"sshhh…" Max soothed, running er and down Nudge's thick curly hair. "It's okay." Nudge continued to cry, but calmed down significantly from when she was standing outside. She pulled the little girl into her lap and rocked back and forth, how a mother would have done, until Nudge had calmed down enough to speak. "What happened?"

She didn't reply, just sniffled, leaning against Max as they both sat in Max's bed.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Max questioned, laying Nudge down on her pillow and covering her. She knew Nudge would fall asleep shortly, but she also knew she wouldn't go back to her own room alone. Max didn't mind sharing her bed, especially because Nudge was only four, so she didn't take much room or covers.

Nudge shook her head in reply, still sniffling, but no longer crying. Max was puzzled: what could have possibly shaken little Nudge so much in the middle of the night, that wasn't a nightmare?

"So what happened?" she asked.

"Fang and Iggy!" she said, as two sets of tiny feet padded in front of the door, then into the next room where giggling ensued, then silence. Max frowned, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Stay here, okay?" she said, sliding out of bed and walking carefully over to the door, being sure not to make any noise. Iggy's hearing had begun to mutate. Because of their strange, superhuman genetics, their senses were acute, and since Iggy could no longer see, his other senses had adapted; evolved to make up for his losses, and his hearing was eerily sensitive. Though he had gone blind only a week-and-a-few days ago, his hearing was already double the rest of them. At least that's what Jeb said.

She opened the door, turning the knob slowly and carefully, careful not to make a sound, then slipped out of her room as nudge watched from the bed, sitting up and hugging her little cloth doll; her dark skin and shiny hair reflecting the moonlight from the window just above Max's bed. Max smiled at Nudge before tiptoeing to the next door over: Fang and Iggy's room. She squatted down next to the door, putting her ear to the crack , listening for movement. When she heard none, she crept ever so quietly into the kitchen, where she retrieved a bowl of pudding from the counter that, ironically, Iggy had made earlier that day with Fang. She retrieved a large ladle from the drawer and a jar of honey from the cupboard, then carried all of it back to Fang and Iggy's door where she sat for a few minutes, making sure the boys had really fallen back asleep.

When she heard no movement, she pushed the door open slowly, without a sound, and dipped her fingers in the honey, coating the doorknob liberally: a nice surprise for the boys tomorrow morning. She then sneaked over to Iggy's bedside, ladle in hand, and scooped up a glob of chocolate pudding, which she poured on the pillow just next to Iggy's head; a place he was sure to roll into later.

Next was Fang's turn. Not that Iggy was less at fault, but she was a bit more miffed at Fang. He had, undoubtedly been the mastermind behind the operation, leading Iggy into Nudge's bedroom and doing whatever awful thing they had done to scare her. The idea had most likely been formulated to cheer up Iggy, who had gone through another bad day. Not a day passed without Iggy crying and feeling sorry for himself since he lost his sight. It was terribly painful for all of them to watch as he fell deeper into despair, and, though it was a cruel thing they did to Nudge, Max was happy he had laughed. It was the first time since his eyes were destroyed.

She made good use of the honey with Fang, slathering it on the palms of his hands and in his long, dark hair. Fang loved his hair. He would never admit it, but it was his favorite thing. It was dark, jet black and down to his knees, longer than any of them, even longer than Max's, whose hair was down to the middle of her back. She then proceeded to draw a honey mustache on his upper lip, to match the one Jeb had just shaved (trying to mar his identity should the 'School' come looking for him). She covered her mouth to keep herself from laughing, then crept out of the room again, returning the foodstuffs to the kitchen, then back to her bedroom where Nudge was asleep.

Max smiled to herself, pleased. 'That will serve those nasty boys right!' she thought, laying down, sliding herself under her light blue comforter next to little Nudge who was curled up around her dolly. Max shortly returned to her slumber with a smile, looking forward to the commotion in the morning; the commotion she had caused!

IN THE MORNING

At about six in the morning, the entire household was awakened by Fang.

"My hair!" he hollered in despair, as if his child had been murdered. This was shortly followed by Iggy, who, to Max's dismay, had a less negative outlook:

"Hey pudding!"

The sound of numerous bedroom doors opening rattled through the house.

"What happened? Jeb said, walking out of his bedroom and into the living room, where all of the bedroom doors opened to. Angel giggled in his arms (perhaps mind reading?) and Gazzy clapped his hands at the commotion. Max opened her door, giddy to see what she had created. Nudge followed suit shortly.

Everyone watched as Fang lumbered out of his bedroom, his hair stuck to his head and face in sticky clots. Iggy was holding his hand, his unoccupied fingers wiping chocolate pudding off of his face and into his mouth. 'should have used the honey on him, too…" Max thought, though she still laughed with the rest of them.

"Max what happened?" Nudge asked, tugging at the older girl's night shirt.

"Payback." She said simply.


	3. Fang

Summer wasn't Fang's season. It was too hot and uncomfortable, and the air was always stagnant. It rained too much, too. He didn't like the summer at all. That was all he could think about as he cleaned his bedroom. Though he shared the room with Iggy, Fang was in charge of cleaning it. He wasn't bitter, though. Iggy pulled his weight in different ways, like cleaning the windows and wiping down the countertop and even cooking, sometimes. Iggy was getting quite a knack for cooking, using his sense of smell and taste and touch to make up for his lost eyes. But that meant Fang had to clean their bedroom by himself, since Iggy was useless when it came to putting things away.

The little boy sighed, taking his waist-length, raven hair out of its loose ponytail, then tying it back again, tighter this time, leaving it in a loop as opposed to in a full ponytail; that way it would be shorter and out of his eyes while he retrieved clothing off of the floor and folded them, placing them back into his and Iggy's respective drawers; they shared a dresser. He didn't mind cleaning their room. Iggy was his best friend, the least he could do was make his life a little easier and put his things where they belonged. That way he'd be able to find them later. Fang couldn't imagine being blind, but even so, he'd take Iggy's place any day of the week. Something about Iggy made Fang want to…take care of him. He was so skinny and pale, almost sickly looking, and blind on top of that. He knew Iggy didn't like being babied, but Fang couldn't help it sometimes. Iggy just asked to be cared for.

When the floor was visible and the dust had been swept under the carpet, Fang opened the door and left the stuffy room. He took his shirt off, hating how it stuck to his skin from perspiration, revealing his strong yet trim middle. Fang was by far the strongest of the kids; the most hearty and well built. He wasn't thin and frail like Iggy, and Max gave him a run for his money, but he could still overpower her, should he need to. Not that he would need to…

He looked around the big open space of the house where everyone, well, the tree oldest children, were doing chores: Max dusted the Television set and coffee table as Iggy stood on his tiptoes, wiping down the windows until they squeaked, wrinkling his nose at the smell of ammonia. Jeb was in the kitchen, cleaning the shelves of the refrigerator. That should have been Max's job, since she had made it dirty the day before after getting pudding all over her hand from the prank she had played on him and Iggy. They deserved it; they really shouldn't have scared Nudge with their paper-plate Eraser masks, but it did make Iggy laugh, which was the objective. Fang smiled thinking back to it, hearing him laugh for the first time in so long. Too bad it had to be at Nudge's expense.

He slid on his socks, gliding across the freshly polished hardwood floor quietly, up to Max. He gave her a swift poke in the side, tickling her, making her shriek.

"Fang-g!" she giggled, trying to sound angry. She feather-dusted his face, making him sneeze.

"What?" Iggy asked, turning his head in the direction of the commotion. Fang winced when he saw the other boy's freckly face. His glassy, deadened eyes, looking off somewhere into space, not at Fang or Max. Fang quickly bounced back, though, not wanting to upset Iggy, who had been having a relatively good day so far.

Fang smiled, not saying a word until he was just behind the other, skinnier boy.

"Nothing," he said with a smirk. Iggy whipped his head around. "Just this!" he said as he jammed his fingers into Iggy's sides, just under his ribs. Iggy screeched in laughter, turning around and spraying Fang with the Windex, luckily, yet somehow sadly, missing him. Fang humored Iggy anyway, pretending to be squirt. "Aw man my shirt!" he said, giving Max a smile and a wink. Max smiled back, happy at Iggy's joy, as they all were. Jeb was even laughing from the kitchen.

"Careful!" he chuckled from across the room, "Don't let Iggy slip."

"I won—" Iggy began as he took a step forward, slipping in the puddle of window cleaner and landing flat on his back. Fang's smile vanished in sync with both Max and Jeb, hoping that Iggy wouldn't burst into tears. But he just sat up and started laughing, doubled over, finding his own mishap completely and totally hilarious, his strawberry hair whipping backwards as he tilted his head back, laughing harder than he had since losing his eyes.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief and joined in Iggy's joy, even Fang, who didn't laugh very hard very often, smiled. He extended a hand, tapping Iggy's fingertips. Iggy grabbed his hand and allowed Fang to haul him up and straight into a hug.

"Glad you're feeling better!" Fang said as Max joined the hug.

"Yah Iggy. Nice to have you back." Max added.

LATER:

Fang had Iggy by the hand, walking the trails they had made behind the house in the secluded woods. They did this every day at the same time, just before dinner, as a sort of tradition. They had started it the first day they came to the house, only two days after Iggy lost his vision. That day, they walked to make him feel better, but today they walked just for fun.

"didn't think cleaning would be fun like that." Iggy said, smiling, following behind Fang, holding his hand. Fang's hand had almost become a part of Iggy's being; they were almost always in contact, they might as well have been connected. They were so very close, and the best of friends.

"I think that was the most fun I ever had cleaning." Fang giggled, both of their voices still frothy and light, the voices of childhood.

"Hey Fang?" he asked, his tone dipping into a more serious range.

"Yah?" Fang replied nervously, hoping Iggy wasn't upset. He hated to see him and Max upset. He loved them both so much, and he couldn't stand it when they were truly unhappy.

"I know I didn't really spray you with the Windex." He smiled meekly in Fang's direction, his useless eyes flicking back and forth, looking for something they would never find. There was a gap in his smile from where he had lost his two front teeth. Fang's mouth nearly matched, but he was missing his two top canines: that had nothing to do with why they called him Fang, but it was a strange happenstance.

"How?" Fang asked, taken aback. Iggy only shrugged.

"I don't know…When I slipped I knew I must have missed you…" he let his head hang for a moment, cracking his fingers with his thumb.

"It's okay…It wound up being really funny!" Fang said, turning to face Iggy. The red headed, skinny little boy closed his eyes half way, then all the way, then half again, as if he didn't know if they were open or closed. He smiled.

"Yah huh? It was funny! I had to change my shorts, though." He laughed, his glossy blue eyes shining, almost as if they were alive again.

"Yah. Everything you do is funny. That's why you're my best friend."

"You sure it's not because we both have crazy bird wings and that our cages were right next to each other?" he said sarcastically.

"Nope. I think it's because you're funny." Fang answered, struggling to keep a straight face. He grabbed Iggy's hand to make sure he came along and didn't feel lost.

"Hey Fang?" Iggy said again lightly, as if about to tell a joke. Fang whipped around at the same instant that Iggy tripped over a root in the trail, his red Chuck Taylor flying clear through the air, as well as Iggy. Fang moved to catch him. Iggy had eaten enough dirt recently. But things didn't do as planned.

Iggy stretched his arms out, catching himself on Fang's shoulders, but also slamming their faces together, their mouths touching for hardly a split second, but the damage had been done.

They were both mortified at their 'kiss', however accidental it had been (and besides the fact that it gave them both a fat lip.), and sat quietly for a short moment before Iggy broke the silence, exploding into an eruption of laughter.

"Let's NOT tell anyone that happened." He said through raspy giggles.

"I think that's a plan." Fang replied, standing up, hauling Iggy up by his hand. "It'll be our best, deepest, darkest secret. Don't even tell if we play truth or dare." Fang added, looping his pinky around Iggy's. "Pinky swear?"

"Pinky swear."

[Everyone can clearly see that Iggy is my favorite character at this point, and that I think Fang and Iggy should get together, but this isn't meant to be a Figgy story or whatever you want to call it. It was meant to be cute. Please don't flame me. It was supposed to be cute. Come on, everyone's wacked mouths and freaked out because of 'kisses'! So yah that's all I have to say!]


	4. Nudge

Nudge was angry. Well, as angry as a four year old could be. She snuggled her doll as she stormed out of the living room and into the kitchen, looking for Jeb to 'tell' on Gazzy.

All morning, Nudge had been crafting the ultimate blanket fort in the living room, including both couches and the coffee table, and involved everything from rubber bands to stacks of books to a broomstick. Though Iggy had helped her, she still considered it her masterpiece. She had even decorated the inside with magic marker drawings (which she taped to the sofa as windows) and furniture made of couch cushions. It was her palace. It was perfect! But she wasn't allowed to play in it unless Gazzy could too; Jeb's rules. So Princess Nudge (complete with plastic tiara) reluctantly allowed little Gazzy to play inside her masterpiece too.

They had been having quite a fun time together, laying on their bellies watching Saturday morning cartoons. Road Runner was always Gazzy's favorite. Even though he was hardly two, he thought the 'meep meep!' was hilarious and broke out into a giggle fit every time the road runner made his signature sound. Nudge liked Tom and Jerry better. She thought the little mouse was cute. Though the shows had more or less the same premise, Gazzy wasn't very fond of Tom and Jerry because Jerry didn't 'meep' at the cat.

All was well until Gazzy gassed. The air suddenly became heavy and soggy, the scent almost visible inside the blanket tent. Nudge's cheeks flushed and her eyes watered at the smell, and she immediately left the tent, her castle, and crossed her arms.

"Gazzy get out of my tent! This is all your fault! You made it all smelly and gross and now it's ruined and I'm so angry at you so you should leave and you're never allowed in my castle tent again because you're smelly!" she babbled. Nudge was good at babbling. That's why she was called Nudge.

"oopsies." Little Gazzy replied, frowning. He didn't mean to ruin Nudge's fun, really he didn't. He just couldn't help his 'funky stomach'; that, and he had a big glass of milk not an hour before. "Sorry…" he added. Gazzy didn't know many words, but 'oopsies' and 'sorry' made up about 90% of what he said in a day, the other 10% being 'hungry'.

"I'm telling on you! You ruined my tent and I worked so hard on it with Iggy and now it's ruined and it's all your fault! I'm telling Jeb!" Gazzy's eyes began to water as Nudge stomped off to the kitchen. "Jeb?" she called. When he didn't answer, she continued through the kitchen and up the stairs to Jeb's bedroom and office. The door was always locked, so Nudge knocked with her little fist. "Jeb I need you!" Nudge fumed. Jeb opened the door, closing it quickly behind him, letting none of the secrets inside spill out: medical papers and DNA charts, all stolen from The School.

"What's wrong, Nudge?" he asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose. He looked exhausted, probably because he had stayed up all night, as he usually did, going over scientific papers, growth charts, numbers, and other confusing statistics to make sure the children were progressing correctly. You never know with bird kids. There's not a parenting book published for that…yet.

"Gazzy came in my tent like you said, so I let him and we were watching Tom and Jerry and Road Runner, and then we started laughing and Gazzy got all funny and—"

"Nudge, take a breath," she did. A long, deep one. "Now, what did Gazzy do?"

"He farted!" she hollered. "And he ruined my whole tent! Now I can't play in it anymore because it stinks!" Jeb did his best to keep from laughing. This was, apparently, a very serious issue. You know things are serious when a four year old says 'farted' with a straight face.

"Okay…" Jeb said with a sigh. Just because he was in charge of the kids didn't mean he wanted to walk into Gazzy's stink bomb. "I'll take care of it…"

Nudge grinned, the satisfaction of tattling rushing through her little body. She sat down on the steps, sliding down on her bottom (Fleece feet-y pajamas are good for sliding down stairs) and into her bedroom.

"We'll play in the castle tent later, okay Dollie?" she said, combing her doll's yarn hair and straightening her faded pink dress. "Once Jeb airs it all out." She added, pouting.

"No Fang don't come in h—!" Jeb began. But it was too late. Fang walked right into Gazzy's cloud.

"Aw gosh why?!" he asked God. "Why does this happen?!" Iggy coughed in agreement.


	5. Iggy's Sick Day

Thanks AngelicDevil for the cute story ideas : ) I used you're comment for inspiration, so you deserve due credit!

Iggy was sick…Again. It seemed he was always sick lately. Jeb said it was a genetic mutation that had been missed when he was in the embryonic stage of his life; back when he was still 'normal'. That would account for why he was so skinny and frail as a very young child…not that he wasn't still skinny and frail. Iggy was beginning to see that he had received the shortest possible end of the stick; every aspect of his being seemed to be either screwed up or unlucky. Even before he was a mutant little bird kid with albatross genes he was a screw up. Then, he just happened to be the kid they tested the vision enhancement on. And now he was sick for the second time in just a month.

It wasn't anything serious, just a bad cold, but it came at a terrible time. Iggy had been having another bad week. Recently, he had gone through a stage of relative happiness, building blanket forts with Nudge, cooking things with Jeb, taking walks with Fang, and playing patty-cake with little Gasman. He was enjoying himself, beginning to accept the cards he had been dealt and do the best he could with what he had. It was just a few days ago that Iggy discovered his love of fire; now that the weather was getting cold, Jeb was making use of the fireplace, and Iggy loved the way it felt, as well as the sound it made when one waved a flaming stick through the air (which he was no longer allowed to do.).

But this week was not good. It was nearly Halloween, and the older kids were carving pumpkins in the yard. Max was creating a cute little smiling pumpkin face, and Fang was carving out a deviously grinning demon on the front of his pumpkin. Iggy sat with them, in his usual spot next to Fang, and scooped out the pumpkin guts with a spoon. The cold, slimy mass wasn't a pleasant feeling, and made him feel almost nauseous as he dropped it into the pot as he had been told to do. He absently scooped the pumpkin goo out with one hand, and held up his head with the other, propping his elbow up on his knee, bored.

He scooped monotonously, over and over again, until he couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up and waved his spoon.

"This stinks, you guys!" he said as his metal spoon, full of orange guts, flew out of his hand and right into Max's face. Fang laughed. Max didn't.

"Iggy ew! What's your problem?!" she shouted, standing, picking up a wad of pumpkin guts from the pot and throwing it at Iggy on impulse. Iggy had been getting on Max's nerves. It was understandable, since Iggy needed constant companionship and guidance, and got frustrated easily. He spent many of his days on the sofa alone, feeling sorry for himself, which drove Max up the walls. It just happened to be now that she finally snapped at him.

"Nothing's my problem! What's wrong with you! Since when is it okay to throw stuff at a…a—" he broke off, a lump forming in his throat. Max waited impatiently

"A what, Iggy?!" she demanded, crossing her arms, orange smile mixed in with her wavy blonde hair.

"A BLIND KID!" he wailed, fisting his hands and letting his wings extend powerfully out behind him, his feathers spreading and ruffling in fury. He had never been so angry before.

He ran off across the yard, shortly followed by Fang, leaving Max alone with the pumpkins.

That was three days ago. While he was running, Iggy had fallen into a deep puddle and just sat there until Fang scooped him up, the little red head gagging on the mud in his mouth. Jeb said that's why he had a cold again. Iggy just thought he had bad luck.

He was in his bed, the little TV set above the dresser humming and speaking, keeping him company while Fang was doing something more entertaining than watching Iggy's glassy eyes stare into space. Iggy sniffled, his nose runny and red from tissue-rash. He felt around his night table for the box of tissues Fang had left, groping around blindly until he found them, but only after knocking the alarm clock onto the floor. He didn't care. He just wanted to breathe through his nose.

Not long after, Fang returned, a smile on his face, trying to cheer Iggy up.

"Hey, Ig." He said as happily as he could, feeling terribly sorry for his best friend. Iggy's face brightened and he sat up in bed, his far-too-big night shirt hanging off of his knobby shoulders.

"I smell soup." He said in a muffled, stuffed up sort of way. Fang laughed a little.

"Yah Jeb said to give you soup, you know, those little stars? They're pretty cute floating around in there…" he said, stirring the broth-y mix of star shaped pasta as it swirled around the clear liquid. "Here have it." he handed Iggy the spoon, pressing it against his right hand, then placed a pillow on Iggy's lap, placing the bowl carefully on top of it, guiding Iggy's free hand to the rim. "Careful it's really hot."

Iggy moved the spoon slowly in the direction of the bowl. He missed the food all the time, and it was horribly embarrassing, so he made it a point to keep good aim with his spoon, even though it was just him and Fang. He didn't want Fang to think he needed help all the time. Recently Fang had mentioned that Iggy seemed like someone that just longed to be snuggled and cared for. Max agreed. It made him feel strange, and he had tried his best to be independent after that, though it wasn't working very well.

He missed the bowl the first time, hearing the metal clank against the porcelain soup bowl. He sighed.

"Here," Fang said, grabbing Iggy's hand and bringing the spoon down into the bowl. Iggy's eyes flicked around, as if looking at the room, something he always did when he was nervous or uncomfortable. Fang took notice. "Hey don't worry, okay? It's no big deal."

"I can't even eat by myself." Iggy said, sucking on the end of the spoon.

"You've just got to practice, that's all. I think you're doing great. But you're sick on top of that. Just let me help you 'till you're better, okay?" Iggy nodded, half closing his eyes, knowing Fang was right. He handed the spoon to Fang, who stirred the little stars before taking the spoonful and holding it just in front of Iggy's face, close enough for him to feel the heat under his nose. He sucked the soup off of the spoon, finding it very awkward being fed, but it was much easier, and he was just so tired and burnt out that he had lost all remaining pride.

"Thanks Fang." He said, laying down when he had eaten enough (hardly half the bowl).

"Finished?" he said, placing the more-than-half-full bowl down on the night table. Iggy nodded, rolling onto his side, pulling up the blanket. His fever was making him shiver. Fang took the blanket off of his own bed and tossed it over Iggy. "You're still cold, huh?" Iggy nodded again. Fang took the little glass tube thermometer from the table and tapped it against Iggy's upper lip, prompting him to open his mouth. "102. It's not so bad." Fang read after letting the blue liquid rise inside.

"Is there another blanket?"

"nah we gotta cool you off…" Fang said, retrieving Iggy's glass of water from the table where Iggy could reach it, just next to the tissues. "Have a drink." He took Iggy's hand and placed it on the glass, holding it carefully until he was sure Iggy was holding it, for the glass was sweating cold water from the ice inside. Iggy took a sip, not bothering to sit up. His hand shook. He was freezing, but his skin was hot. "Better?"

"Yah." Iggy replied, taking another little sip. Eating made him feel much better, even if it had only been a little bit.

"Mind if I sit with you? That show about stupid criminals is on and it's funny."

"The one where the comedians talk about how bad people are at robbing cars?"

"Yah that one."

"Cool. That show's funny." Fang turned up the volume and the two boys sat, listening to the comedians totally harp on the crumby criminals. Iggy got a kick out of it, since he didn't have to see it to get the jokes. Fang liked it because Iggy thought it was funny. That, and it said bad words that he wasn't allowed to say, and the rush of watching a 'naughty' show gave him a cheap thrill.

"Thanks for hanging out with me, Fang. I know I'm not that fun, but…"

"You're fun, Ig. Mostly…I don't like it when you're sad."

"Me neither."

"But you're a blast when you're happy." He said, just as the 'f word' was bleeped out. Fang and Iggy both burst into immature laughter at the bathroom humor.

"Good, because you make me happy." Iggy smiled, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"You make me happy too." Fang replied.


	6. A Talk with Jeb

The day had been going well thus far. It was still early fall in the E shaped house on the cliff, and the kids were all inside now, as the sun hung low in the sky, playing in front of the fire. Jeb sat on the sofa, his feet on the coffee table, reading the paper. Angel was already asleep in her crib, Gazzy was laying next to Jeb, his eyes sleepy as he flipped through the cartoons on the TV. Max, Fang, and Iggy were all sitting on the floor off to the side, just in front of the fire, the two oldest, Max and Fang, fanning playing cards in their hands.

"Do you have any fives?" Max asked, looking at her hand intently.

"Nope, sorry…Go fish." Fang replied. Max reluctantly took a card from the pile in the middle. Iggy sat quietly, facing the fire, his arms around his legs, his head perched on his knees, rocking slightly and enjoying the heat from the fire on his face. He loved the way it felt, that burn on his cheeks, not quite pain, but somehow tickling to the nerves, though he did have to look away occasionally, to cool off his face.

Jeb looked over the top of his newspaper, to see what the little guys were up to. Nudge was sitting on the floor with her doll, mesmerized by the cartoons Gazzy, who was now asleep on the couch, had put on. Max and Fang weren't a worry to him. They could entertain themselves. Iggy was a concern, though, and he furrowed his eyebrows when he saw how he was behaving.

It wasn't unusual for Iggy to sit by himself, but not when there was a game to be played, and not when there was a fire poker within arms reach. Jeb knew Iggy was having a bad day, but he hadn't been this miserable in a long while; not for a month, at least.

He stood up off of the sofa, covering Gazzy with a fleecy blanket from the back of the sofa, and walking quietly over to Iggy, kneeling down and putting a careful hand on him, his entire shoulder fitting into Jeb's hand. That was another concern: Iggy wasn't gaining weight like the others. But that wasn't a big deal right now. Jeb had begun to think of himself as their father, and he wanted them to be happy. That became his priority. They were no longer experiments. They were just…children. And he loved them. Iggy whipped his head around at the touch, his eyes searching around blindly.

"Are you feeling alright, Iggy?" Jeb asked quietly, not wanting Max and Fang to get involved. Iggy was quite fond of Fang, but he wasn't as big a fan of Max, and he knew Max would want to have a handle on the situation. Truthfully, Jeb didn't feel like dealing with her just then, but he would never say that. Iggy nodded in reply, returning his chin to his knees, staring blankly into the fire. Iggy had been very useful in Jeb's studies. Though all of the children were experiencing slight mutations, Iggy was adapting very quickly and in more extreme ways because of his blindness. Jeb calculated that Iggy's hearing was at least double the other children's, and that his nerves were becoming supersensitive; he was able to identify Fang and Max by the feeling of their feathers, and knew all of them by footstep, no matter how quiet they tried to tread. Jeb had also noticed physical changes in Iggy. His eyes looked different than they had just a few weeks ago. They had become glassy, looking almost artificial, and his pupils had become very small and cloudy. Occasionally Jeb would give Iggy quick little examinations, shining a little light to look into the back of Iggy's eyes. They hadn't stuck around long enough to see what had caused the experiment to mar Iggy so badly, but Jeb wanted to know what had happened. He noticed that the rod and cone cells that were usually visible at the back of the eye were beginning to shrink, and that Iggy's blindness had been caused by an extremely awful burn on his retina, and that his optic nerve had been severed; both the result of a careless mistake with a laser. Jeb felt rather ill after that discovery, knowing that the Whitecoats working back at the School didn't put the experiments to sleep before operations and experiments. He could only imagine how much pain Iggy must have been in, having such a sensitive nerve severed and the back of his eye burned beyond recognition.

"Why don't you come have a little talk with me." Jeb coaxed, tapping the back of Iggy's hand, the signal for him to hold it. Iggy grabbed Jeb's hand and stood up, allowing the man to lead him into the bedroom Iggy and Fang shared. The little boy sat on his own bed, Jeb sat across the small room on Fang's. Iggy remained quiet, his head down, his eyes flicking back and forth, how they always did when he was feeling uncomfortable or frightened.

"Having a bad day?" Jeb asked as Iggy pulled his legs up onto the bed, crossing them Indian-style and holding his ankles with his skinny hands. He nodded.

"What's the matter? You were doing so well. I'm very proud of you." Jeb explained, deciding that sitting next to Iggy might be a better idea. He sat next to the little boy on the bed, sitting in much the same fashion, his back leaning against the footboard. Iggy shrugged, blowing a strand of orange-blonde hair off of his nose.

"I know things have been hard for you…Is there something I can do to make anything easier for you? Would you like me to move the table in the hallway or label the food in the refrigerator with something you can feel?" Iggy shook his head again, not wanting to be a nuisance. He hated it when people had to change what they were doing to accommodate him. It only made him feel more helpless. A tear slipped quietly from his eye and rolled down his cheek. Jeb wiped it away with the end of his sleeve. "Don't cry, kiddo." He said, rubbing Iggy's back with his hand, all of his ribs and vertebrae showing up as raised bumps. Iggy was so skinny.

"Just sad." He whispered, wiping his nose on his sweatshirt sleeve.

"How come? If you tell me what's making you upset, I can help you fix it." Jeb explained, continuing to run his hand up and down the little boy's back.

"Jeb?" Iggy asked, turning his head in the man's direction. It was heart wrenching to see Iggy trying to 'look' you in the face, his eyes looking off to the side or above your head, when he thought he was facing you. It was sad, but Jeb tried not to let his feelings show through in his voice.

"Yup? What's up, bud?"

"Can you make me see again? If we go back to the school, can you fix my eyes so I can see again?" Jeb pushed his glasses up his nose with a sigh, a lump forming in his throat, tears welling up behind his eyes. It was terrible to think how lonely the little boy must be feeling, to be so desperate as to be willing to return to that terrible facility and be operated on again. Jeb didn't know what to say. If he were to bring Iggy back, Iggy would be taken from him and locked up again, and Jeb would be arrested and put in prison. The other kids would be put back in mortal danger. It wasn't an option. But if it were, would they be able to return the sight they had stolen from Iggy? Maybe…probably not…The last thing he wanted to do was get the little boy's hopes up…he sighed, scooting a bit closer to Iggy, knowing he would need a shoulder to lean on.

"Probably not, Kiddo…" he said finally, wiping the tears from his eyes before they could spill over. He was so pained by Iggy's expression. His thin little face contorting into the face of total sorrow and hopelessness. He fell into Jeb, fisting his hands in the man's shirt and simply sobbing. Jeb held him, running his hand up and down Iggy's back for quite a while until Iggy finally stopped crying.

"Iggy?" Jeb whispered, releasing the little boy. He had fallen asleep in the man's lap, his chest rising and falling a bit irregularly, the remnants of crying still lingering in his body.

Jeb leaned over, doing his best not to wake Iggy, and pulled down the sheets and comforter. He then carefully moved the boy into bed, covering him up, placing his head on the pillow.

Jeb left the room quietly, leaving Iggy to his dreams. At least there he'd always be able to see.


	7. Where's Gazzy?

This one's for Wolf and MR Lover. Max is her favorite character, so this one's mostly about her: ) Hope she likes it!

There was a bit of a problem in the E shaped house: Gazzy was missing.

This wasn't just bad. This was very bad. Gazzy, the Gasman, was nowhere to be seen—or smelled. The entire household was looking for him, or, in Iggy's case, smelling for him, but thus far, nobody had any luck.

"Anyone see him?" Jeb called from his little upstairs office where he had been searching.

"Nope." Fang hollered back.

"I haven't seen him…" Max echoed.

"I haven't either." Iggy snickered. Fang gave him a playful punch.

"are you sure?" he replied, laughing. Iggy smiled and yanked Fang's ponytail.

"Guys stop we have to find Gazzy or else he might be lost forever! Then we'll never find him and maybe he could get hurt or something! What if he got lost outside in the woods?"

"Clam up, Nudge." Iggy retorted. Nudge got on Iggy's nerves quite often. Though Iggy could make plenty of noise himself, he really didn't talk that often, and found Nudge's motor mouth infuriating. She had just learned to ignore him; that, or she was truly incapable of being quiet. She really only bothered Iggy, though. Fang thought she was funny. Max thought she was cute.

"Just keep looking. He has to be here somewhere…" Jeb said as he came down the stairs into the kitchen, opening the cabinets and the cupboard, and even peeking into the oven.

"Yah, that'll work." Iggy tossed back sarcastically.

"All of you except Iggy. Iggy, you keep your nose on alert." Jeb instructed, pushing his square glasses up higher on his nose.

"Yes sir!" Iggy put his hand to his forehead, saluting.

Fang grabbed Iggy's hand and the two of them headed up the spiral staircase up to the second floor (not into Jeb's office. That wasn't allowed) to search the loft space. Nudge headed back into the bathroom, figuring he'd have to use it eventually. Max decided it would be a good idea to look around outside, since they had exhausted almost every nook and cranny in the house. She tied on her light up sneakers (hey, she's nine) and took off across the back yard, spreading her wings and attempting to fly just for fun. None of them could stay off the ground for more than a few seconds, but Max was getting better. Fang was still the best flier, though. He could go almost half way across the yard without touching the ground.

"Gazzy!" she called as she approached the tire swing on the right side of the yard, hanging idly from a tall tree limb. Jeb had to use a bow and arrow to get the rope over the branch. Max thought that was pretty cool. "Gazzy can ya hear me?!" Max shouted again, cupping her hands around her mouth. She waited a moment to see if she could hear him, but when she received no reply, she moved on, heading to the very back of the yard near the really good climbing trees. The kids spent allot of time back there in that tangle of branches, and Gazzy really loved climbing the trees. Max hoped she would be able to find him there, but couldn't see him. Even so, she thought climbing up the branches would be beneficial (and sort of fun).

When she reached the highest she could climb, she peeked out through the leaves. "Hey Gazzy!" she called. "Can ya hear me?!" she asked again, hoping the extra height would make her voice carry farther. Again, she received no reply. She looked up and reached slowly for the next branch, the smallest bit of fear settling inside her. She knew if she could just get up a little higher, she'd be able to see the woods around the tree, and maybe Gazzy.

Iggy was the best at climbing trees, even though he was blind, and right now, Max wished she had his ability to scurry up through the branches. Her hand shook as she grabbed the branch, but she held onto it and pulled herself up with a smile. She had never been so high before. She reached up again, past the hard part, and soon found herself at the very top of the tree, a place previously only reached by Iggy. She couldn't wait to show everyone how high she had gotten, but that would have to wait until later. Now, she had to look for Gazzy.

Jeb had built the kids a tree house, which Max could see clearly now, from her high perch, but she knew Gazzy couldn't be in there. The tree house was a sort of bribe. Jeb had built it without a ladder and made sure there were no branches to climb up as an incentive to learn to fly. Fang had gotten close to the door once, but not even he could make it inside yet. Gazzy wouldn't be able to get up there.

She scanned the property with her raptor eyes, searching for Gazzy's white barn-owl wings or his blond-y- blond hair. She couldn't spot him, but she did see Fang guiding Iggy outside by the hand. They must have had the same idea she did.

"Hey Max, do you see him?" Fang called to her, approaching the tree. "Wow you got really high up there. As high as Iggy does!" Max smiled.

"Darn! Guess I'm not the best climber anymore." Iggy said with a smile and a shrug.

"No I can't see him…Do you think he's okay?" she asked, easing herself down the tree slowly, a lump forming in her throat. She hated it when the flock wasn't together, especially when one of them was lost. She couldn't imagine life without all of them, even one as small as Gazzy.

Fang saw her expression and released Iggy's hand, giving Max a hug.

"He's okay. We'll find him soon."

"He's probably passed out somewhere from his own stink bomb." Iggy suggested. Fang laughed. Iggy had been acting much more like his old self lately, much more sarcastic and joking. He had even started to make jokes about himself and his blindness. He was learning to be happy again.

"That's a possibility." Fang said through a chuckle. Max giggled, but stopped suddenly, holding up her hand for the boys to stop laughing. Fang gave Iggy a nudge to get the message across to him.

There was rustling coming from a nearby bush. Max ran over and pushed aside the leaves to find Gazzy, fast asleep in his jeans and red t-shirt, his face in the dirt, using the ground as a bed.

"Hey Gasman." Max coaxed, giving him a little rub on the shoulder. "Wake up!"

"Hey you found him!" Iggy said, holding a hand out in front of himself, following the sounds to Max's side. Fang hung back, his eyes wide, his cheeks flushed.

"huh? Hi." Gazzy cooed, opening his big blue eyes. Max smiled.

"What are you doing out here? We've been looking all over the place!" Iggy said with a laugh.

"I was playing hide and seek."

"Aw Gazzy, you can't play hide and seek by yourself…" Max explained with a warm smile, helping Gazzy up.

"But I wasn't playing by myself. Fang was playing with me." Gazzy said with a smile, his three-year-old baby teeth showing. Iggy burst into laughter, doubled over, his arms crossed around his middle, nearly in tears.

"Fang that's hilarious!" he squeaked out in between laughing. He sat down in the grass and continued to laugh, unable to contain himself. "I have to remember that one! Think it'll work on Nudge?!" he added, still doubled over, his orange hair whipping back and forth as he laughed. Fang didn't think it was very funny, especially since Max shot him a deadly look.

"Fang you forgot to find him?!" she asked, understandably exasperated. Gazzy yawned. Fang nodded quickly.

"no you didn't you just didn't feel like playing with him!" Iggy said, still sitting on the ground, chuckling.

"Fang!" Max shouted, though she had to work hard to keep down a smile.

"What? I didn't want him to stink up our bedroom! I didn't think he'd fall asleep all the way out here!"

"That's a bad excuse!" she said, laughing. Gazzy didn't seem to understand what was so funny and just stood holding Max's hand, waiting to be lead back inside.

"It's GENIUS!" Iggy shouted, standing up and holding his arms above his head, palms open to the sky, as if Fang had fulfilled some sort of miraculous prophecy. Max shook her head with a smile.

"Well, at least we found him. Why don't we go back inside and tell Jeb." Max said, beginning her walk back to the house with Gazzy, followed shortly by Fang who held Iggy's hand.

"it was a pretty good idea, wasn't it?" Fang whispered to Iggy as they walked, far enough from Max so she wouldn't hear.

"The best idea ever." Iggy answered as Max opened the door, holding it for the boys.

"That was a fun game!" Gazzy said with a smile. "I'm the best at hiding!"

"You are, Gazzy." Max agreed, returning the smile.

"Hey Nudge, wanna play hide and seek?" Iggy called.


	8. Iggy's Knight in Shining Armor

*This one's for chanceXinfinity. Exactly what she asked for was "Could you make a really Figgy-filled chapter where Iggy is in danger and Fang comes to his rescue, like a knight in shining armor with flowing midnight hair?" I was taken at 'flowing midnight hair' and just had to do it. hehehe.*

It started out innocent, as it always does, but nothing's fun until the skinny, awkward red head gets into a sticky situation, right? Right.

It was his own fault, but he couldn't really be blamed. The whole thing was a little funny, though, once you get past the slightly awful part.

Max, Fang, and Iggy were all playing outside, having a grand time. The trees at the very back of the grassy yard were perfect for climbing. The branches were like arms or chairs, perfect for sitting in, but close enough to the other branches so that climbing up wasn't so hard; only fun. Iggy had quite a knack for climbing trees, and was usually the first one up, and today wasn't any different.

Iggy had many strange talents. He could cook, which no nine year old, regardless of genetic mutation, should be able to do well. He could also wire a bomb all by himself, which was a little frightening, at the least, but sort of cool, none the less, considering he was completely blind. But what was really impressive was that Iggy could make fire out of anything. ANYTHING. If you left the kid alone in a room with a gym sock and a glass of water, he could make it burn. He was crazy, a little red headed madman with freckles and a grin that was so mischievous, it would kill you with sheer anticipation of what he was going to do next. He was absolutely nuts, and wise cracking on top of that. Max thought he was a little overbearing. Fang thought he was perfect.

Fang had missed the 'old' Iggy, from back when he could see. He was loud and sarcastic and just…funny. He was the perfect playmate, even when they were trapped in cages. Iggy always came up with games they could play between the bars: clapping games, cats cradle with shoe laces (which he secretly collected. Don't ask how, nobody knows.), and ways to make even the worst experiments and tests not so bad. But after his sight was taken away, he had changed. He became quiet and introverted, hardly speaking and getting startled at everything. He was fearful of his surroundings, the eternal darkness making him feel miserably alone. But now, he was bouncing back. It had been almost a year since he lost his sight, but he was getting much better. He wasn't the same…not yet, but he was becoming 'Iggy' again, not 'Blind Iggy', just 'Iggy', and it made everyone happy, especially Fang. It was like meeting his best friend all over again.

Anyway, the kids were having quite a good time in the tree, just climbing sitting and talking. Jeb had brought out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which they ate as they climbed, seeing who could get the highest without dropping it.

"Aw my sandwich." Fang pouted as his PB&J fell to the ground. He jumped down easily, extending his raven wings to break the fall (none of them could fly quite yet…Fang was getting close, though!) and retrieved his sandwich and took a bite. A little dirt never hurt anyone.

"Ew Fang! Don't eat it off the ground!" Max scolded, hiding a giggle. Iggy laughed.

"It's okay. He's already full of sh—"

"IGGY!" Max shouted, stopping him before he said the 's word', though she was laughing as well. Fang scurried up the tree again, his sandwich placed safely between his teeth as he took a seat on a branch next to Iggy, whose sandwich was already almost gone.

"Bet I can climb higher than you, Max"

"No way. I got higher than you the other day, remember?"

"I bet I can get higher than that."

"I smell a contest." Said Fang, straddling the thick branch and scooting out of the way.

"You first, Max." Iggy said with a smirk that was meant to be right at Max, but it was more at the squirrel's nest just to the left of Max…What Iggy didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Fang certainly wasn't going to tell him. He had been back to his old self lately, and Fang didn't want him to have a relapse.

"Okay! I'll go all the way to the top!"

"Yah I'll believe it when I see it." Iggy said, then laughed. "Which will probably be never." Fang pulled Iggy into him from behind, giving him a sort of backwards hug.

"I'm sure you'll see her someday. But I don't think she can get higher than you." Fang said, nuzzling Iggy's strawberry hair with his nose. He liked the way it smelled. Iggy always used Max's conditioner by mistake, and that mixed with the 'boy shampoo' created a sort of…good smell. Fang didn't know how to explain it, but he liked it.

"Mehh!" Max tossed back, sticking her tongue out at the boys. "I'm sticking my tongue out at you, Iggy!"

"I'm mentally whooping your butt!"Iggy replied, Fang's arms still around him, keeping him up on the branch, the other's long, black hair tickling his arms as strands ran past his skin in the breeze.

Max climbed up the wide lower branches like a ladder, the familiar limbs had been committed to memory. She scurried up quickly at first, but began slowing as the limbs became smaller and thinner; less familiar. Though she was only about nine years old and with semi-hollow bones to boot, she was getting nervous that the thin branches wouldn't be able to hold her, but none the less, she continued climbing with a smile, determined to beat Iggy, the previous climbing champion.

Shortly after the branches began to sway under her weight, Max stopped climbing, looking down at Fang with a smile.

"Okay! I did it! I climbed as high as I can!"

"Tie a shoelace around the branch so we can see who climbed higher." Fang suggested. Max unlaced one of her sneakers and tied the shoelace to the nearest branch before carefully climbing down the tree, back to the lower branch Fang and Iggy were sitting on.

"Kay my turn." Iggy said, shoving the last little bit of sandwich in his mouth before standing up from where he was sitting against Fang. Instead of starting on the lowest branch where Max did, he jumped, grabbing the branch directly above his head and climbing up. He did this all the way up, making record time as well as height, easily surpassing Max's pink shoelace. It was amazing. Though he couldn't see the branches, he found the right ones quickly and easily, his eyes flicking eagerly as he climbed. It wasn't until he literally ran out of branches to grab that he stopped. He was at least fifty feet off of the ground. Max made it up about thirty.

"Whoa! Iggy you're all the way at the top how do you stay up there?" Fang called up to him. Iggy shrugged, his eyes facing the vista as if looking over the distant mountains.

"I dunno. The little branches are sort of scary, but I can't see them shake and stuff, so I don't get scared…" Max nodded, a reasonable reason.

"Well, you win! Come on down we'll go inside and watch…er…put in a movie." Max suggested, careful not to mention 'seeing' since Iggy always picked up on it, even if he didn't say so. He just lost his luster when someone shouted 'whoa did you see that!' or 'lets go watch cartoons!', so they all tried not to use those words to make Iggy feel better.

"Okay." Iggy said, but he didn't come down. He just sat there.

"You okay, Ig?" Fang asked, standing and grabbing the tree limb just above his head, worried that Iggy may have gotten himself stuck.

"Yup."

"What are you doing? Climb down! Do you need help?" Max asked. "I can try to climb up there…"

"Nope." Iggy answered simply. He shifted his position slightly, rolling his shoulders. Then he extended his creamy white wings, and Max and Fang knew exactly what he was doing.

"Iggy you can't do that! Jeb said to start on the ground first!" Max protested, frightened Iggy would fall and hurt himself.

"Yah Ig," Fang agreed, "Maybe you should climb down…at least start lower…" Iggy ignored them and poised himself, getting into a sort of squatting position on the skinny branch he was perched on.

"Iggy please!" Max pleaded, truly worried for his safety. "I don't want you to get hurt please come down!" But he hardly heard her. He straightened his wings out behind him, then moved them together, the ends of the longest feathers extending far above his head. He flapped once, as if practicing, and straightened his legs with as much force he could muster, and took off into the air, extending his wings smoothly, perfectly, as if he had been flying his entire life.

"Wow…" Fang said in awe, watching as Iggy glided above the house, flapping occasionally when he began to sink down. "Max look at him go!" Max said nothing, just watched, her mouth agape in awe at Iggy's light wings, the creamy brown tips curling ever so slightly upwards as he turned.

"Guys! I did it!" he called, "This is really cool!" he laughed, in total joy. Flying finally gave him freedom from everything; there was nothing to hinder him in the air. It didn't matter that he couldn't see. All that mattered was that he was in the air, and that the wind was in his face, and that he was in total control of everything around him. The sky was at his mercy! He was free—

Max and Fang's smiles vanished in a hurry when Iggy hit the chimney, just like a bird against a windshield. His wings crumpled around his body as he fell to the flat roof, landing with a thud Max and Fang could hear all the way from across the yard.

"Oh gosh! Iggy!" Max called, jumping out of the tree and running to the house, climbing the trellis up to the roof, something Jeb frowned upon, but in this case, Max didn't mind breaking the rules. Fang followed quickly behind her, jumping into the air and flying as far as he could, for it was far faster than walking.

Fang reached Iggy's skinny little body first, leaving Max at the edge of the roof, holding a hand up for her to stop and stay away. Iggy's nose was crooked and bleeding, his left arm bent the wrong way, and a huge scrape running across the entire side of his body, his Aerosmith tee shirt ripped from the top of his ribcage to the hem.

Fang sat him up, hurriedly brushing his waist-length hair out of his face and behind his ears, his dark indigo eyes wide and focused only on Iggy. He rushed to take his shoe off, placing Iggy's head on his lap, and pulled off his sock. He put it under Iggy's nose to catch the blood. The smell wasn't important at the time. It was the sock or the underwear, and Max was right behind him.

"Iggy." He coaxed, brushing the red hair off of the other's forehead. "Ig you okay?" he asked again, more urgently. Iggy's crystalline blue eyes fluttered open, and he immediately yelped in pain, grabbing his broken arm with his other hand. Fang grabbed him, scared he would hurt himself further, and just held the smaller boy against himself, holding him in a tight hug, partially because he wanted to restrain Iggy, but also because he loved him, and he loved the fact that Iggy was okay.

"Fang it hurts!" Iggy shouted through gushing tears and a bloodied nose. Not only was Iggy's shirt ruined, but now Fang's was too, drenched in a teary, bloody mix.

"Max to get Jeb." Fang said, looking back at Max, who had approached and was looking over his shoulder, also crying.

"Okay!...Is he okay?"

"Yah just go get Jeb." He said as she turned and jumped off the roof, extending her wings to break the fall.

Though he was nervous about going to the hospital, Fang came with Iggy and Jeb. Jeb had decided it was the best thing to do, since he had to get his arm fixed, and the procedure was so simple, they wouldn't even see his wings. He was right, of course, and Fang sat next to him as they set his skinny arm and wrapped it in a cast twice the width of his shoulder.

"You okay, Kiddo?" Jeb asked after the doctor left.

"Yup." Iggy answered with a quick nod and a smile.

"Does it hurt?" Jeb inquired, picking up his cast, which was wrapped in blue on Fang's request.

"At first it did, but now it's okay. This thing is heavy, though." He said, and in fact he was tilted a bit to one side as he sat, the cast weighing down his lightweight body. "Hey can I have a candy bar?" he asked with a meek sort of smile. Iggy didn't ask for much, but when he did, he was very thankful when he received it.

"Sure, Bud. I'll be right back." Fang stayed behind to keep Iggy company. He sat on the foot of the hospital bed and tapped Iggy's hand so his friend would know where he was.

"You fell pretty hard." Fang said, pulling his hair out of it's loose ponytail and pulling it back again, tighter this time.

"Yah…it was pretty cool at first, though." Iggy smiled, his two front teeth only halfway grown in, leaving a gap when he grinned.

"It was really cool. You're the first one to ever fly." Iggy beamed. He hadn't thought about that.

"You have a black eye, too, from breaking your nose."

"Yah…I think that hurts more than my arm. Noses are gross. You know that feeling you get when you hit it real hard?"

"Yah…"

"It feels like your nose totally wants to throw up." he said, sticking his tongue out, scrunching up his nose, wrinkling the thick layer of gauze that had been placed there to hold the bone in place. Fang laughed.

"I guess that's about right."

"It's sorta creepy in here…it smells like the school, sort of…only…cleaner, I guess…less nasty. No White Coats stunk it up in here."

"White Coats smell?"

"Yah like road kill." Iggy chuckled, so did Fang. Even minutes after losing his sight, Iggy's senses mutated and he began picking up on sounds and smells none of the others could. It was actually really weird. Iggy could hear a pin drop across the room. He was amazing; truly superhuman.

"Don't worry. It's not like the school in here…There's a little TV and the blankets on the bed are pretty blue with clouds. The walls are painted up too. There's a giraffe by the door with a smile." Fang described, looking around the room for Iggy. "It doesn't really smell like it too much either…It's more like a house than a hospital…like a kid's bedroom, only with a sink."

"Cool." Iggy said with a smile. "the whole hospital is for kids, I guess."

"But even if we were in the school, nothing would happen to you."

"How do you know that?" Iggy inquired as Fang crawled across the bed to sit on the pillow, pulling Iggy into his lap, Iggy's head rested against Fang's chest.

"Because I'll protect you!" Fang declared.

"Good lord now I'm a damsel in distress." Iggy chuckled. "Like Rapunzel in that book Nudge likes."

"Well if you're trapped in a tower, I'll be the knight to save you." Fang smiled.

"I'm glad." Iggy said, closing his eyes. It was only about noon, but Iggy was exhausted.

"I'll always be there for you. Even if you run into another chimney."

"Shut up." Iggy lifted his broken arm and whacked Fang in the side of the head with the cast."

"Ouch!"

"You're my knight. You're supposed to be brave and fearless."

"Yah, but that thing's heavy!" they both laughed.

Jeb walked back in,

"Here ya go. Plain chocolate, that's what you like best, right?" Jeb said, putting the chocolate into Iggy's hand, watching as he ran his sensitive fingers along the wrapper, finding the best spot to open in it. The little boy nodded. He thought nothing of Iggy sitting in Fang's lap. They were always together, and it just wasn't odd anymore. Plus, Iggy acted more or less the same with everyone. He was very snuggly and liked physical contact. Because of his blindness, the contact gave him a sense of environment and atmosphere that he couldn't get without his sight, so Iggy sitting in Fang's lap wasn't really anything unusual, though Jeb suspected they were getting a bit closer than friends, even if they were only nine years old. "Ready to go home?"

"Yes please." Iggy said, sliding off of the bed, eating his king-sized chocolate bar. No doubt he would finish it all himself, but even so, he broke off half and held it out to his side for Fang.

"Thanks, Ig," He said with a smile, "but it's yours. You have it." he gently pushed Iggy's hand back.

"That was nice of you, though." Jeb praised. He was one of those 'positive reinforcement' parents. Iggy smiled, sucking on the corner of the bar. Iggy had an odd habit of sucking on things; the end of spoons and forks at the dinner table, the left ear of his favorite stuffed animal, and even his own lip when there was nothing else to suck on. It was actually pretty adorable, when it wasn't disgusting.

Back home that night, Iggy lay half asleep in his bed across the room from an equally as sleepy Fang. After getting a nice warm shower, they somehow felt more at ease, as if the hospital had been washed away. That, and now both of them smelled nice.

"Thanks for coming with me today. That was pretty stupid of me, huh?" Iggy said quietly, his light, sing-song-y voice muffled slightly by his pillow. Fang shrugged.

"It wasn't so bad, and the doctor was funny."

"yah he told jokes and stuff. It was cool 'cause I didn't really have to see to think it was funny." Iggy said with a little chuckle. "And he got all freaked out when he looked at my eyes." He loved it when people looked at his eyes because they looked so strange. As time passed, his pupils became more and more cloudy and small. That combined with the crystalline blue color made his eyes look very spooky to someone who wasn't expecting it. Fang laughed as well.

"Your eyes are pretty, though. I don't know why he got scared like that. They're just a little different." Iggy shrugged, his cheeks and the tops of his ears growing hot and turning pink at the compliment.

"They're not that great." Iggy said almost sadly. Fang heard the drop in Iggy's voice and suddenly felt guilty for mentioning it. He stopped talking for a moment and was almost asleep when he heard the telltale sniffle that always came right before Iggy burst into tears. Fang slipped out of his bed, bringing his stuffed raccoon with him, and slipped under the covers next to Iggy. They were both thin, and Iggy was tiny, so the twin bed was big enough for both of them to have room.

"Sorry, Iggy. I didn't mean to say that…I meant…" he was at a loss for words. His compliment had been taken the wrong way, and Fang was never good with words, but Iggy knew what he meant.

"It's not your fault…" he answered, his voice cracking, holding back tears. Fang rolled over to face him and grabbed his hand, running his thumb over Iggy's knobby knuckles.

"It's still not fair, though…I wish I could give you one of my eyes." He said; it couldn't be closer to the truth. Fang had wanted to help Iggy since the moment he was thrown back into his cage after surgery. He had even spoken to Jeb about it, and whether or not he would be able to swap them out so that Iggy could see again.

"No…you have to see so that you can tell me everything." Iggy smiled meekly. "If you can only see half the stuff, and I can only see half the stuff, then both of us only have half of the whole world. But if you can see everything, and you can tell me all about it, it's better. Then we both get everything, sorta kinda." Iggy explained.

"Yah I guess that is better…" Fang agreed thoughtfully. He was always impressed at the wisdom buried underneath Iggy's childishness and sarcasm. When everything was finished and quiet and still, Iggy became more serious and thoughtful. That was something he had adopted when he had been robbed of his sight. It was as if he had seen the light and gained some sort of knowledge when his eyes were taken.

"I'm glad you came with me…I would have been really scared if you didn't come…" Iggy said quietly, rolling over towards the window, his back pressed against Fang's, their wing's expanding and contracting as they breathed, able to feel each other's inhale and exhale melodically.

"I'm glad I came too, then." Fang answered equally as quiet. "I don't like it when you're scared." Fang smiled, feeling Iggy's breath slow as he slipped into slumber. Iggy always fell asleep first. "Don't worry, Iggy. I'll protect you." Fang said more to himself than Iggy's sleeping body beside him. "I'm your knight in shining armor."

*Kay I feel like that was a crappy ending, but this is getting long and I don't want people to get bored hahaha! Hope you liked it, especially chanceXinfinity who requested the story! Hope it had enough Figgy for you, chanceXinfinity. It was sort of strange to make it really lovey because they're so little! But I did my best!

Thanks for reading, everybody! I love comments, good or bad, so tell me what you thought, send ideas, requests for stories, whatever!*


	9. A Meaningful Walk down the Driveway

Iggy sighed, laying on the sofa, covered in his favorite cotton blanket, the blue one with the silky lining around the outside hem. Only his lower half was covered, his skinny middle to his toes. He was still little enough to fit his entire body on the long sofa with his head flat, not up on the arm like how Jeb did. His hand was hanging off the side of the couch, his long, thin fingers tangled in the shaggy carpet. Today was the seven month anniversary of losing his sight, and he couldn't help but be a little down; Fang and the rest of the kids had gone food shopping with Jeb, and when Fang wasn't around, it was like losing his eyes all over again.

Light streamed through the large windows on either side of the fire place, and Iggy could feel the sun on his pale, sensitive cheeks. He knew that if he could see, the light would have bothered him. He would wish it weren't so bright, that the sun weren't in his face, but now, he wished that sun would pierce through his darkness. He would be overjoyed if the sun were in his eyes. He would never complain about it being too bright.

The house was totally empty…except for Max. She had volunteered to stay behind and 'babysit', making sure Iggy didn't hurt himself, how he always did. He still couldn't rotate his arm correctly from when he broke it on the chimney flying. He cut his finger with a knife making dinner, he hit his head on the garden trellis, he could hardly take a shower without help from Fang or Jeb. It was horribly degrading, knowing that you were nine years old and unable to be independent. He had begun to get over his misfortune, and found himself joking and being happy again…but only when he was in his comfort zone…only when he was with Fang…He hated to admit it, but he needed him there. He was a mess without him. Fang was the only one who seemed to understand what was going on inside Iggy's head. He was the only one who didn't baby him, and knew when to help and when to leave him be. He didn't grab his wrists and drag him off places, he let Iggy take _his_ hand. He was good at simple things like that; things that made Iggy feel better…feel normal again.

But Jeb had convinced Fang to run errands, since he was usually the one who stayed behind with Iggy, and Max was the only older kid who could take his place for the day, so she sat on the lazy chair just to the left of the sofa and flipped channels, unsure what to do with herself or with Iggy. She never spent much time with him alone; she always had Fang's help to keep the situation upbeat and happy, but Iggy's mentality was so fragile, even on a good day when he was joking and sarcastic, that Max was afraid to even get close, fearing she would shatter it. She was thinking hard on this very subject when she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Iggy's little voice coo on the sofa.

"Max?" he asked quietly, half asking her a question, half wondering where she was.

"Yah?" she replied, still a bit startled at Iggy's sudden question. "I'm sitting on the chair next to the sofa…" she added. Iggy usually liked to know what sort of information. He sat up, combing the hair off of his nose.

"Thanks." He replied with a little smile in her direction, though his eyes were more directed just to her right. Max didn't correct him. "Want to do something fun?" he asked quietly with a grin, revealing his numerous missing teeth. Max giggled a little. She loved Iggy to death. He was so funny, even when he wasn't trying to be. Between his freckly nose, his bright orange-blonde hair, and his funky, foggy-blue eyes, he was just goofy looking. The missing teeth only furthered the effect.

"Yah sure! What do you want to do?" Max inquired, sliding off of the chair and sitting down near Iggy on the sofa. He shrugged.

"Want to take a walk?"

"Where?" Iggy shrugged again.

"I don't know…We could just go to the mailbox…" The mailbox was down a long gravel driveway, almost a quarter mile long. It would be fun to trek down it and back up, especially if there was mail. Mail was always exciting.

"Okay." Max nodded with a smile, flashing her own missing front tooth as she tapped the back of Iggy's hand, imitating Fang. Iggy told Fang all of his thoughts and feelings, then Fang conveyed them to Max and occasionally Jeb. Iggy never complained. His greatest fear was being a burden to anyone else. He hated the thought that his handicap would lead to the downfall of all of the people around him. This posed a problem, though, considering none of them (besides maybe baby Angel…) could read his mind. None of them knew what he really wanted or needed unless he told Fang.

Iggy smiled and grabbed her hand. Luckily Iggy had told Fang how he hated being dragged around by his wrist all the time, so Max knew not to do that anymore. Though Iggy was a bit puzzled that everyone had suddenly changed their ways, he was happy that he wasn't being dragged around.

Max lead him to the door where all of the household's shoes were lined up against the wall. She handed Iggy his red Chuck Taylors. "Need help?" she asked, just making sure.

"um…could you tie them?" he asked quietly, a bit embarrassed, his ears turning pink.

"Yup!" Max said happily, not making a big deal of it to make Iggy feel less self-conscious. She tied his sneakers then lent him a hand getting up before sitting down and pulling on her own sneakers. "Lets go."

The two of them left the E shaped house and started down the pebbly driveway, Max holding Iggy's hand, Iggy walking cautiously behind her. The kids rarely ventured down the driveway. It wasn't that they weren't allowed, there was nobody around for miles and miles, it was just that they never felt a need to, but Max agreed that a walk would be a good idea, and Iggy would like going somewhere new, with new things to feel and smell. Even though they didn't leave the property, Iggy would be happy to run his hands along new trees and new boulders and new bushes. As long as someone was guiding him, he wasn't afraid to go to unfamiliar places, and even enjoyed the experience.

"We never hang out together, huh?" Max said, holding Iggy's hand, walking slowly so he didn't trip on the uneven terrain.

"hm…" he answered simply, shaking the hair out of his eyes. Even though he couldn't see, having hair in your face is still uncomfortable.

"We should do more stuff together. You're always with Fang." Max gave a little chuckle.

"Yah…Me and Fang are good buds."

"I know. He always talks to you and leads you around and stuff."

"He talks about allot of stuff to me."

"You're lucky. He's usually quiet with other people." Iggy shrugged.

"I guess cause I can't see he talks to me."

"Yah…it must be sorta hard for you…" Iggy nodded.

"Sometimes…" he said, hanging his head low, but lifted his head and smiled shortly. "But it's not so bad since I have you guys. I'm okay."

"I'm glad." Max said, rubbing the back of Iggy's hand affectionately. She knew he really appreciated it when people took the time to consider his feelings and how happy the contact made him. Even little hand rubs made him feel so much better about everything.

"Me too." He said, pushing his shaggy hair behind his ears. He shrugged again. "It's not so bad. I sorta kinda wouldn't be Iggy anymore if I could see. I'm just…the 'blind kid'." He said; but his tone wasn't sad…He was simply content. Max felt tears well up behind her eyes, but she didn't know why. She wasn't very sad, she was the opposite. She was thrilled that Iggy was content with himself. This was the first time Iggy referred to himself as blind without getting upset, and she was very proud of him.

"You really don't mind?" Iggy shrugged.

"Well, it's not that I don't mind, it's just that I know I can't change it, so I might as well just…not be sad about it anymore." He smiled meekly. "I'll be okay…It's been seven months today. I made it this far, I guess I could live like, ninety more years." He shrugged. Max laughed and put her arm around his shoulders. Max was about a year older than Iggy, so it wasn't strange that she was taller than him, but Iggy was a bit small. He was the shortest of the 'big kids' and Jeb often took his measurements and weight, curious as to why he wasn't growing as fast as the others, but Iggy didn't mind. It was funny, though, that Max was almost a head taller than he was, even though she was only a year older.

"Iggy, you're different than you were before." Max said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Iggy asked, bowing his blonde eyebrows.

"I don't know…Before…everything…you wouldn't have said that. You wouldn't have said that you're okay with what you have. You would have said some sort of stupid fart joke or something." Iggy nodded in mild agreement. "And now you said how you felt and stuff…That's really brave." He blushed at the compliment.

"We should hang out more often." He said with a smile in Max's direction.

"I think that's a good idea." She agreed just as Jeb's black SUV pulled up the driveway.

"Want a ride?" Fang asked through the open passenger window.

"Okay!" Iggy said, stretching an arm out to find the van. He found Fang's hand first. Max climbed in the back seat. Fang opened the passenger door and let Iggy share his seat.

"What were you guys doing?" he asked Iggy quietly as they sat, riding up the driveway. Iggy shrugged.

"Just walking. And talking about how awesome I am." He smirked. It wasn't a lie, after all!


	10. A Run In with Santa

Christmas time in the E shaped house wasn't much different from holiday celebrations elsewhere; theirs just had more wings.

The night of December the 14th was very exciting for the children, especially the oldest three, since none of them had ever really had a Christmas before. They knew what it was, and they knew what was supposed to happen from overheard conversations between scientists back at the School, but none of them had ever gotten to celebrate themselves. It made Jeb terribly upset to know that these little children never had the joy of coming out of their rooms to see a plethora of gifts under the tree. They had never received a stocking to hang on the mantle. They had never set out cookies for Santa. Knowing this, Jeb decided to make this the best Christmas anyone ever had.

It was a challenge to get appropriate gifts for everyone. Fang was the most difficult, but eventually Jeb had gotten more than enough for every one of them, even little Angel, who was just under a year old. There were at least seven Barbie dolls for Nudge, a new windbreaker with wing slits as well as a little goldfish for Max, the softest blanket Jeb could find and new red Chuck Taylors for Iggy, and a beanbag chair for Fang. But that was only a small portion of what the children would be receiving. The living room floor was absolutely covered in gifts, all of them wrapped according to child: Max had the Santa wrapping paper, Fang's was red and while striped, Nudge's had pink snowflakes, Gazzy's was green with holly, Angel's were shooting stars, and Iggy's were wrapped in blue paper with snowmen. That way there would be no dispute over who's gift was whose.

The gifts had been quietly hiding in Jeb's office for weeks now, and he was happy he would finally be able to put them out under the tree for the kids. He carefully placed all of the gifts on the carpet under the tree in no particular order, creating a rainbow of wrapping paper. The area under the tree was quickly filled, and the gifts began to spread across the floor like a puddle of water. He smiled the entire time, pushing up his glasses as he looked around. Not even half the gifts were down yet. He couldn't wait to see the kids faces when they woke up.

He walked as quietly as he could up into his office to retrieve more gifts, on tiptoe in his socks so he didn't wake anyone. That would ruin everything. He had to stay quiet. He grabbed as many boxes as he could carry and walked back down the spiral staircase, but about half way down, he had this horrid urge to sneeze.

'Please no…' he thought, his nose tingling. 'Please not now!' He thought again, pleading with himself not to sneeze, but sneezes aren't something you can just save for later. Just three stairs from the bottom, he let out the must muffled 'achoo!' he could, but dropped a few of the boxes. He steadied himself. 'That wasn't that loud…I don't think any of them woke up…' he whispered to himself after listening a moment, continuing down the stairs and putting the gifts carefully around the tree.

Iggy's foggy blue eyes fluttered open. The little boy sat up silently in bed, pushing his blankets aside and listening. He could swear he heard something—

There it was again. A little thud and a sneeze to go with the footprints he had heard above his head.

Santa.

A smile crept across Iggy's freckly face. He could hear Fang's slow, even breathing and knew he was still asleep. Nobody was awake! Just him! He was the only one who heard Santa! Nobody would believe this in the morning. He had to say hello! He had to tell Santa how wonderfully he'd behaved. He hadn't set off one explosive or set anything on fire in at least two months, just so Santa would come. Jeb said Santa would make up for his first eight Christmases that he spent at the School, and Iggy was so excited, his stomach felt helium-filled.

He slipped off of his bed and slid across the room in his socks, feeling for the door which he quickly found and pushed open soundlessly. He poked his head out of the door and just listened. Someone was there, and he knew it was Santa.

Jeb whipped his head around when he heard the small clattering of a doorknob turning. 'oh no…' he thought, 'I've ruined everything!' he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, staying quiet as he stood up and turned toward the open bedroom door. It sounds terrible, but he was overjoyed when he sat Iggy's skinny little frame leaning against his bedroom door, a smile stretching from ear to ear. Iggy couldn't see him. This night might yet be saved.

"Santa?" Iggy whispered.

Jeb cleared his throat. "Hey Iggy." He said, disguising his voice as best he could. Iggy was good, but he wasn't that good…at least Jeb didn't think he was.

"Hi Santa." Iggy said, his shining blue eyes opened wide. He seemed almost terrified, in awe of the man he thought was standing before him as one fears God. He didn't moved. He hardly breathed. He just stood leaning against his door wide eyed, his stomach floating up into his throat. "I was really good, just for you." He cooed quietly, taking a step off the door, grinning.

"I know. You've been very well behaved. But you have to go back to sleep now, Iggy."

"Yes I know, but…did you eat the cookies yet? Me and Jeb made them. I'm good at cooking!" Jeb smiled at the little boy's excitement. His entire little body trembled with joy, his glassy eyes shot around the room.

"They were the best cookies I've had all night." Jeb said, making his voice rumbley and low. So far so good. Iggy smiled, pleased with himself and his cookies, which Jeb, in fact, hadn't eaten yet. "But Iggy you have to get back in bed. I'm only supposed to come when everyone's asleep."

"Yes I know…So they don't see the presents, right? But don't worry 'cause I can't see so I can't peek…But I'd really like too see again for Christmas…" He said, his tone loosing some of it's joy. He played with the hem of his sweatshirt. Jeb sighed at the innocence in little Iggy's eyes, the pure emotion, unclouded and clear. It was rare to have such innocence, even for a child. Jeb always said Iggy was wise beyond his years. Yes, he was immature and childish, he was deep and full of feelings most small children cannot fathom. Iggy had been through things in his nine, short years of life than most people ever go through, and that didn't make him smart, but it did make him clever and witty and wise.

"No…" Jeb said, not wanting to hurt the little boy's feelings on Christmas Eve. "I'm sorry, Iggy, but even Santa Clause can't work miracles…" Iggy nodded in understanding.

"Thanks anyway, Santa." He said with a meek smile. Jeb returned the grin.

"But you have to go back to sleep, otherwise the magic will run out and I won't be able to visit all of the other children. You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?" Jeb said, hoping that was convincing. He wasn't good at lying, especially about things like Santa and magic. Scientists don't think like that…

"Oh…I didn't know that! Sorry." Iggy apologized, turning to go back to bed, but hitting his head on the doorframe. Jeb stepped briskly across the room to assist him, swiping an oven mitt off of the table so Iggy wouldn't recognize his hand.

"Want some help?" he asked as Iggy rubbed his forehead, messing his hair all up. the little boy nodded. Jeb took his hand carefully and pushed open the door, feeling quite strange in his oven mitt, playing the role of Santa Clause in the middle of the night, but happy, none the less, and walked Iggy to his bed and tucked him in.

"Goodnight, Santa." Iggy said as he snuggled into his blankets. Jeb smiled and rubbed his oven mitt across Iggy's head.

"Goodnight, Iggy." He said.

…

The next morning, Iggy was the first one to wake up.

"HEY EVERYBODY SANTA CAME!" he shouted from his bed, waking the entire household. All of the children ran out of their bedrooms simultaneously and headed for the living room, buzzing about their expected gifts.

"Whoa look at all this stuff!" Max said, sitting down on the carpet in the middle of a pool of presents.

"There are so many boxes!" Fang added quietly with a smile, holding Iggy's hand.

"The Santa paper is Max. Nudge's is pink. Fang, yours are the striped ones. Gasman, you're the green ones, and Iggy's are the snowmen…" Jeb instructed.

"How do you know, Jeb?" Nudge asked.

"Santa left a note." He explained, pushing up his glasses and sitting on the sofa, watching the chaos ensue. Paper flew everywhere. Jeb handed little Angel her gifts which she found great joy in tearing open, handing her a stuffed bear almost as big as herself, which she immediately started to chew on. Jeb laughed.

"Here Iggy. The snowmen are yours." Fang said sitting on the floor next to Iggy just under the tree. He handed a little box to the smaller boy. "Want help?"

"No I can do it…" Iggy said, carefully finding the ends of the paper and opening the box carefully. Inside he felt a smooth box with round corners, but he didn't know what it was, and couldn't open it any further. "Fang what is this?" he asked, holding out his gift in Fang's direction. He looked up from his own gift unwrapping and turned towards Iggy.

"Wow Iggy! You're so lucky!" he said, taking the box from the other boy and taking the tape off of the outside, opening the clear plastic.

"What is it?!" Max asked, crawling over to the boys to see for herself. "Oh gosh Iggy that's so cool!"

"Why what is it?!" Iggy asked excitedly. 'It's because I talked to Santa last night.' He thought. 'Santa give me something cool!'

"You got an iPod, one of those music players. I saw one on TV! You put music on it and you can listen to whatever you want."

"Like a CD player? Iggy asked. He was quite fond of his CD player, but switching discs was a pain sometimes, especially because he didn't know which one was which.

"Yah but better! It just plays music with no CDs. You put it on with the computer! I read it in a magazine!" Max exclaimed, taking the little machine gingerly from Fang and turning it over in her hands. "It's even got your name carved on the back! See?" she took Iggy's hand and ran his fingers over his name. He smiled, taking the iPod and feeling it's smooth metal finish.

"Wow that's cool." He said with a smile. "Max, what did you get?" he asked, holding his iPod gently in his hands, turning it over and over, just feeling it, getting to know it.

"All sorts of stuff! I got a really big kite shaped like a butterfly and a little computer!"

"I got a laptop too!" Fang cooed as he opened another box, revealing the pristine 'Dell' logo on a plain white box. Iggy smiled. Everyone was so happy. "So did you, Iggy. Yours is different, though…" Fang said, uncovering the laptop box Iggy had sat beside himself after opening it. He figured he would ask what he received after everything was unwrapped.

"Yah Iggy yours has different little buttons and headphones attached…"

"It's made for people who can't see." Jeb explained. "It'll say the letters out loud so Iggy knows what he's typing." Iggy smiled.

"Neat-o." He said, still holding his iPod, his new prized possession.

"Jeb will you unwrap my Barbie I think she's stuck in the box. I think it might be pulling her hair a little bit, and I don't want to hurt her. She has really pretty hair, though, so don't cut it, okay?" Nudge babbled as Jeb carefully removed Barbie from her Fort-Knox box. Nudge was overjoyed.

"Aw check this out!" Fang said, unfolding a little piece of paper that had been folded neatly into a little square.

"What is it?" Max asked. Fang handed her the paper.

"I don't know. Unfold it." Max did so, and began reading the little note out loud:

"dear Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and baby Angel,

You have all been very good this year, and I think you dessert—"

"Deserve." Jeb corrected.

"—Deserve the best Christmas ever. I hope you are all very happy and will con—con-t-t-inue…"

"Continue" Jeb said again. Hey, they were hardly nine years old. Santa wrote some hard words.

"—continue to be good for another year. You are the best kids ever. Tell Iggy I am sorry I couldn't get him what he really wanted for Christmas, and that his cookies were the best ones I ate all night, and that I really liked talking with him last night— Wait, Iggy you talked to Santa?!"

Iggy nodded with a smile, proud of his encounter with Santa Clause late last night.

"How?! That's so cool!" Fang chimed, grabbing Iggy's hand and pressing it against his smile, something only Fang did.

"I heard him on the roof, and then I came out of my room and he was there." He shrugged, as if it were 'no big deal'.

"Aw man I wish I got to see him." Max said. "Jeb Iggy met Santa last night!" Max said with a smile. Jeb smiled back at him, then bent down and rubbed Iggy's orange hair.

"That's a pretty awesome thing, Iggy. It must have been very exciting."

"Yup. And he even helped me back to bed because I ran into the door." He said jokingly, making light of himself, something he had become very good at. Quite allot of crumby things had happened to Iggy, but he had been blind for almost a year now, and he knew he couldn't change it. He knew that was who he was. He was Iggy, the blind kid. That was his identity, and he didn't want to change it anymore. That's not to say he didn't want to see again, but he decided he wouldn't ask anymore…He would just be pleased with himself, and that was all he needed.


	11. A Trip to the Mall

Shopping wasn't something that happened to the Flock very often, and going _anywhere_ in the car was always an adventure, so the kids were overjoyed when Jeb decided it was time for an outing to the local mall for new clothes. All of them, even little Iggy, had grown considerably since they had arrived at the E shaped house, and they all were in need of new clothes. Gazzy stained most of his tee shirts, all of Iggy's had holes in them from falling into bushes or snagging on trees. Max's and Nudge's were just too small. Fang's shirts were all a bit too small as well, but he really needed pants. All of his had holes in the knees. Not as big as the holes in Iggy's, though.

Iggy destroyed clothes. Even the shoes he had gotten for Christmas were already dirty beyond recognition. That said, Jeb decided it would be good for everyone to get out of the house. None of the kids had ever been to a shopping mall before. The farthest they had been from the house was the local grocery store, and they had no social skills at all. If they were ever going to be out in the world alone, they would have to learn how to handle normal people. So they all bundled up in their winter things, except Iggy, who insisted on wearing his Chuck Taylors instead of snow boots, and headed out to the SUV.

"Whoa this place is huge…the roof is so high…" Fang said when they entered, looking up to the high ceilings, past the second floor and straight out to the skylights.

"Think it's high enough to fly?" Iggy asked too loudly. Max slapped a hand over his face. Iggy licked her palm and she let go.

"Ewww you're so gross!" she said, wiping Iggy's slobber on her jeans. "And don't talk so loud or else people will think we're weird."

"And might call the EPA…" Jeb added under his breath. Iggy nodded.

"Sorry…forgot about that…" he said quietly with a little smile.

"But yes, Iggy. It is high enough." Fang said, grabbing Iggy's hand so he didn't have to hold onto Jeb's shirt; Jeb's hands were full with a sleeping baby Angel, not to mention it's a bit embarrassing having to hold a grown up's hand when you're obviously old enough to walk on your own. At least walking with Fang looked a little more normal. Iggy smiled, imagining the massive building. He tightened his hand around Fang's, a bit overwhelmed at all of the new sounds a smells, slightly frightened by the echoes of voices he had never heard before. He shifted his wings nervously on his back. Jeb grabbed a cart.

"Pile all of your coats in here, then you can go where you want." Jeb instructed. He thought it would be a good idea to give the kids a little independence. "Big girls, stay together," Max took Nudge's hand, eager for the adventure. "And big boys stay together. Fang make sure Iggy's with you. Don't forget about him. Iggy, if you get separated, don't move. Just stay in one spot and we'll find you. That goes for all of you. If you get separated or lost, stay in one place and we'll find you. Gazzy, you stay with me and Angel and we'll get clothes for you." Jeb sat Angel in the baby seat in the cart and thumbed through his wallet, handing Fang and Max 40 $5 dills. "That's $100 dollars for each of you. Clothes only!"

"Do shoes count?" Iggy asked. "'cause I want another pair of Chucks."

"Shoes are alright." Jeb said, "Mostly pants and shirts though, alright?" I'll meet you right back here at 3:00. That's two hours. If you need more time after that, I'll give you more time, but be back here at three no matter what, alright?"

"yup we'll be right back here!" Max said with a smile. "Can we go now?"

"Yes. Have fun!" Jeb said, turning the kids loose.

Nudge immediately dragged Max into a Limited Too.

"Aw Nudge everything in here's pink…" Max said, sticking her tongue out. The only pink thing Max owned was her shoe laces, and those were now camouflaged in dust and dirt, making them more gray than magenta. On the other hand, everything Nudge owned was pink. Everything down to her socks and the sheets on her bed.

"Max but I like this store look at all the pretty things! And everything's got sparkles on it, see? Oh I really like this!" the five year old shrieked, skipping over to a rack of long sleeved shirts, all of them the same shade of pink, all of them decorated with a puppy with a different colored collar. "I like this one with the heart necklace!" Nudge said, yanking down the hanger. "Can I get it Max, please can I?" Max rolled her eyes, but nodded anyway. Nudge bounced in excitement. "oh yay Max this is fun!" she said, continuing to dart around the glittery pink shop, picking out shirts and skirts and tights and little Mary-Jane shoes covered in sequins. Max stood in the middle of the store, smiling at Nudge's joy as she conversed with other little girls about which shirt had the cutest unicorn on it.

This went on for a good while until Max held three different tee shirts, a leopard print hoodie, two pairs of tights in different shades of pink, and the sparkly shoes.

"Kay, Nudge. Time to pay!" Max announced, doing her best to guess-timate the amount she had spent. About fifteen dollars for the tee shirts, that's $45, five dollars for the tights, that's another ten, so about $65, two skirts for ten each, $85, and the sparkly shoes for a final ten, putting Nudge's total at about $95 dollars and some cents. Max took the pile of clothes in her hands over to the counter at the back of the store and plopped the pile on the counter as Nudge followed her, skipping giddily.

"All this?" the young girl behind the counter asked, chewing bubblegum, her hair tied back in a pink bow, her nametag reading Andy.

"Yes! Lots of clothes! Aren't those shoes so cute? And the shirt with the puppy is my favorite, but I also like the unicorn one and the one with the flower that says 'girls rule'. I really like shopping! I think I want to come back again some time but with Jeb so I can get more stuff because there was a really cute stuffed puppy over there with a tiara, but Jeb said I could only buy clothes, so I didn't get it, but I bet if I came back he would let me! I also really like—" Max slapped a hand over Nudge's motor mouth. The girl behind the counter laughed.

"The stuffed puppy is free if you buy over $50 dollars of other stuff, so go grab one." Nudge's big brown eyes sparkled with joy and she ran to the front window of the store to retrieve her puppy-princess, complete with a matching pink tiara. "The total is $97.32." the girl, Andy, said to Max with a smile. "Do you have that much, or do you have to wait for your parents?" she asked with a smile. Max shook her head and pulled all of the money out of her pocket in a wad and handed it to the girl in a ball. She laughed. "My gosh, you have a very brave father! My dad would have never given me all this to spend by myself!" she thumbed through the five dollar bills, counting out the right amount for Max and handing her back the extra, as well as a few shiny coins. "There you go! Thanks for coming!" Max smiled.

"Thanks for the free puppy." Max said with a wave as she took Nudge's hand and left the store.

Now it was Max's turn. Even though she was only ten, Jeb got her a Seventeen magazine recently, as he sometimes did as a treat when it went grocery shopping, and Max had really liked an outfit from a store called 'Aeropostale', so that's where she went. Nudge went eagerly, excited about seeing more things, and seemed to like this next store as much as Limited Too.

Instead of rummaging aimlessly, Max walked to the back counter and pulled out the clipping from the magazine, which she had folded neatly in her pocket and handed it to the girl at the register.

"Could you help me find that stuff? I really like the jeans they're cool." Max asked with a smile.

"Sure thing, kid." The girl said, pushing her red hair behind her ear. "you want the shirt and vest too?" she asked. Max nodded, suddenly feeling a little shy, but followed the girl around the store, picking out the colors she wanted as she went, taking a liking to the greens and blues, but shying away from the pink and purple. She had seen enough pink to last a lifetime in Limited Too, and was thinking about having Iggy burn her shoelaces when she got home for the simple fact that they were (or used to be) magenta. "Do you want to try this stuff on? You're really thin and I think you might need a double zero instead of just a zero…take both into the dressing room and try." The girl said. Max nodded, a bit nervous again. It seemed strange trying on someone else's clothes, but figured it was part of the experience and followed the girl to the fitting rooms. "Tell me if you want a different size or something and I'll get it for you." The girl added before walking away. Max looked at Nudge, who was also in the little dressing room.

"Should I try them on?" she asked.

"Yah do it it'll be fun! Like a fashion show!" Nudge cooed. Max shrugged.

The zero wound up being a little loose, and so she bought two pairs of the double zero jeans in two different washes, as well as two tee shirts; she also bought the puffy warm vest and turtleneck sweater she had seen the girl wearing in the magazine.

"Awesome. Ready to pay?" the girl behind the counter asked when Max handed the girl her selections.

"Yup." Max said, handing her the rest of the bills in her pocket. The girl counted out the correct amount of change and handed it back to Max; the girls had seven dollars and forty-one cents to spare. Max smiled. "Thanks!"

Fang wasn't really sure where to go. Unlike Max and Nudge, he had never once laid eyes on a fashion magazine, and only saw a Playboy one time when it came in the mail by mistake, but that was only for a second before Jeb took it away. He had no idea what he was doing, and figured he would just walk up and down the long corridor of stores until he found something appealing.

He held Iggy's hand, passing all sorts of stores. Fang raised an eyebrow at the shop called 'Hollister' with a naked boy plastered to the door, and tried to keep away from the stores that smelled like perfume. He was embarrassed to even look at Victoria's Secret, but Iggy liked the way that one smelled.

"Are we shopping yet?" he asked, sticking close to Fang, obviously a bit nervous.

"Um…I guess so…All of these stores are weird, though…" Fang answered.

"That one back there smelled good." He said, pointing back in the direction of an Abercrombie.

"Yah but that's all girl clothes and weird stuff…" Fang said, watching a gang of girls in tight shirts and high ponytails walk out of the Abercrombie, two of them wearing sunglasses, the others gossiping and talking on their cell phones. One of them had a soda.

"Oh…" Iggy said, making a face.

They walked a bit further. Fang was beginning to get discouraged when nothing caught his eye and decided to just go into a department store. Macy's was supposed to be okay. He saw ads for that all the time on TV, and someone would help him if he needed it. He guided Iggy inside and made for the kid's section.

"Um…Do you want to sorta…feel around and see if you like stuff, or…" Fang asked his friend, unsure of what to do. Iggy shrugged.

"I don't think it really matters. I guess I'll just hang out and you can get stuff for both of us and I'll just try it on." he smiled, his missing front teeth finally starting to come in.

"Okay." Fang smiled back, pushing up the elastic holding up his pony tail. "Um…just hang out around here, okay? I'll look around." Iggy nodded a bit nervously as he heard Fang's familiar footsteps fade into the murmur of shoppers. Iggy reached out a hand, deciding to play a sort of game and find the softest thing he could, then the itchiest sweater, and the shirt with the weirdest feeling. He could do that to pass the time. He smiled, pleased with his ingenuity as he ran his hands along the racks.

It wasn't long until Iggy ran into trouble, though. Iggy was a good little guy. He didn't do anything so very wrong, and never ever had bad intentions (unless creating a bomb out of common household items is considered a bad intention…) but somehow, trouble always found him, probably because he was such an easy target. He was tiny and more or less helpless in a new situation, not to mention blind.

It started with hissing whispers and laughing from kids somewhere to his left. He stopped walking to listen, his foggy blue eyes darting about the way they did when he was nervous. He scratched his leg with his opposite foot.

"Hey kid you alright?" a voice said. Iggy smiled a bit to himself. Maybe they weren't laughing at him after all.

"um no I'm okay…Thanks though." He said, continuing his walk around the kids section, just feeling his way through the racks.

"'Cause you look pretty stupid doing that." The same boy added a moment later. "Do you want us to bring you over to the cashier so she can find your mommy?" Iggy gritted his teeth and fisted on of his hands around his shirt.

"No. I said I'm fine." He added, a bit more sharply, wishing he could look those jerks in the face.

"Why don't you look at me, huh moron? Don't you know it's rude not to look at people when they talk to you, huh?" Iggy lifted his head, biting his lip, hoping he was looking in the right direction. Apparently he wasn't, for the two boys both started to laugh.

"Maybe we should stop, Thomas." The second boy said to the first. "I think he's special ed or something." They continued laughing. Iggy decided it was best to ignore them and continued walking around the isles, guiding himself with his hand more discreetly now.

"Hey kid where do you think you're going?" the first boy, Thomas, barked, approaching Iggy with heavy footsteps from behind. He gave Iggy a shove right in the middle of his back with two chubby hands. Iggy fell on his hands and knees, startled and frightened. Where was Fang?

"Please stop…" Iggy said quietly, as politely as he could. His equilibrium had been all switched around by the sudden fall, and Iggy was dizzy, which is not a fun thing to be, especially when you're blind.

"It's your fault." The second boy said. "If you weren't so stupid and rude Lenny wouldn't have had to teach you a lesson."

"I didn't do anything!" Iggy snapped, standing up as best he could and steadying himself on a nearby clothes rack.

"Yah, yah, whatever. Come on, Tommy lets go. He's just a stupid-ass kid." What?! A stupid kid?! They didn't sound all that much older than Iggy, if they were older at all! Whatever. They weren't worth the trouble. That's what Fang always said when someone made Iggy feel bad. They weren't worth the effort to retaliate; it was best to just ignore them.

Fang returned a moment later just as the boys were walking away, still laughing. Fang watched them go with a raised eyebrow, wondering what was so funny. He quickly put two and two together when he saw Iggy trying to steady himself on a clothes rack, rubbing at his lower back and wiping carpet stuff off of his hands.

"Aw Ig I'm sorry. What idiots." He said, putting an arm around Iggy's shoulders.

"It's okay." He shrugged. "They're not worth the effort." He said, quoting Fang. The dark haired boy smiled.

"you're right. But come on, I found stuff I think you might like, kay?" he said, walking Iggy into the dressing room and pulling off his shirt and jeans. "take all your stuff off, okay? Here's a shirt." He handed Iggy a striped rugby shirt which he pulled on, then swung his arms.

"I like this shirt. It's comfy." He smiled.

"Kay. Is it too big or something? It covers your hands a little…"

"No I like it. it's good." Iggy smiled, pulling off the shirt.

"Good I got two in different colors. That one you just had on is green with a blue stripe sorta diagonal through it. It's got a big #4 printed on the back and that's white like the collar. The other one's dark blue with an orange stripe straight through the middle, kay?" Iggy nodded. He wasn't all that impressed with colors and could care less so long as it was comfortable. "I found a sweater too. It's made of really soft stuff and it's kinda light blue. You'll like it, here." Fang said with a smile, handing the cozy sweater to Iggy who grinned when he felt it.

"I really like this." he said, fisting his hands around the sleeves. Fang knew Iggy liked his clothes a little big so he could snuggle up in them, so even though he was obviously a small, Fang brought in mostly mediums for him. "This is really soft…I really, really like this. Can I get another one in a different color or something?"

"Sure…But you might have to put something back because the sweater is more money than the other stuff…What color do you want? I'll put back the plain button shirt I got…"

"Yah put that back I don't like those. Um…Was there a green one? Or a yellow one?" Blue had been Iggy's favorite color, back when he could see colors, but the sweater he was wearing was blue, and green was probably his next favorite. Yellow was just a happy color Iggy remembered fondly, so why not?

"There was a green one I'll get that. Try on the pants while I'm gone." Iggy did so, keeping his sweater on. Fang returned a moment later. "You like that sweater, huh?" he laughed a bit.

"Yah…can I keep it on?"

"Yah I guess so. The tag is on the sleeve so I guess it's okay." Iggy smiled, sitting quietly on the little chair in the corner of the fitting room while Fang quickly tried on his shirts. He was content with the few items he had brought in and was finished in no time at all.

"Finished?" Iggy asked.

"Yup. Hm…Those first shirts you tried on were buy-one-get-one free, and the sweaters were $25…you only spent $60 dollars… I think I have a lot left too…"

"Want to go somewhere else too? I sorta want a tee shirt that says something funny on it. I like it when people laugh." He said with a smile. Fang grinned back.

"Yah. I want a band tee-shirt. I really like Led Zeppelin…"

"Yah I like those guys too. And David Bowie." Iggy smiled at Fang, then added: "You remind me of the babe."

"What babe?" Fang replied.

"The babe with the power!"

"What power?!"

"The power of VOODOO!"

"WHO DO?!"

"YOU DO!" Iggy finished. They both started laughing as Fang took their purchases through the store, holding Iggy's hand.

"Hey there's the special ed kid again." Iggy heard the familiar voice of Thomas ringing out from behind him.

"Aw look he's with his girlfriend." The other boy, Lenny, said. Fang whipped around.

"Hey lay off, would you?" he said, pushing the elastic up his pony tail again.

"Oops. Sorry. I didn't know you were a guy. Time for a haircut, Nancy!" Thomas laughed. Fang grabbed his ponytail protectively.

"Come on you guys stop. You already made Iggy upset a—" Fang tried to continue, but was cut off by Lenny.

"Sorry we insulted your special ed boyfriend."

"Hey look, kid," Fang growled, releasing Iggy's hand and dropping his clothes in a pile on the ground. He grabbed Lenny's collar and brought his face up to meet Fang's. "He's got it hard enough already. Can't you see he's blind? Leave him alone. He's got to go through with assholes like you every day. Lay off." Fang hissed. He released Lenny with a push that sent him stumbling back into Thomas's pudgy stomach, then picked up his stuff and grabbed Iggy's hand. "Come on, Ig." He said as they walked over to check out.

"Thanks Fang…" Iggy cooed meekly as they walked back towards where they had left Jeb, looking for an interesting store to stop in and buy more clothes. Both of the boys had a little over $40 left, so they figured they'd stop in a Hot Topic and pick up some witty tee shirts, just to have a little fun. Iggy wouldn't be harassed there, either. Everyone in that place was a little different, so Iggy would fit right in. So would Fang, for that matter.

It didn't take long to find the store. It was loud, and rather frightening to the average Joe, but Fang found it exhilarating and exciting, and they played music Iggy liked, so it was a win-win situation.

Fang walked over to the shelves under a tee shirt display and read the front.

"Iggy, this one has a Storm Trooper on the front, you know, from Star Wars, and it says 'I had friends on that death star'" Iggy laughed.

"I like that one. What other ones are there?" he asked.

"This one's just got a mustache on it." Iggy laughed. "And this one says 'I've got gas and I'm not afraid to use it'. Sounds like Gasman sometimes."

"ALL the time!" Iggy laughed.

"Oh you'll like this one. It's just a giraffe wearing a monocle and a bowtie and a top hat."

"Yah! Yah that's funny get that one! And the Storm Trooper one!" Fang smiled.

"Kay! And I found a Led Zeppelin tee shirt, so we're all set." Fang walked over to the register where a really tall, skinny guy was working the register. His nose had a ring through one side, and his ears were pierced all the way up to the top. His shirt had a skull and cross bones across it, but the skull in the middle was wearing a top hat, sort of like Iggy's giraffe tee shirt.

"Hey little dudes. What's up?" the boys smiled, Iggy's eyes darted around the store. "Whoa is that little dude okay?" the guy asked, looking at Iggy. "Looks like he's got lazy eye or somethin'." The guy chuckled a little and ran a hand through his shoulder length, blonde hair.

"huh? Oh yah sorry." Iggy said closing his eyes. He couldn't always tell when his eyes were darting around like that, and figured closing his eyes was the best bet.

"Aw sorry, little dude. It's cool." The guy said as he finished ringing up their tee shirts. Fang handed him the money, but he refused it.

"Nah it's cool." He fished dumped the tip jar and counted out just under twenty dollars, enough for two of the tee shirts. "Buy one get one. I got this. I just need ten." He said with a smile. Iggy's cheeks turned red.

"Thanks." He said with a meek smile.

"no problem, little dude. You and your friend are pretty cool. He's got wicked sick hair and you're just awesome. Your eyes are like, duuuuude. They're so blue it's crazy."

"They're not that great." He said with a little laugh and a shrug. The guy behind the counter handed Iggy the bag.

"I think they're pretty sick." He said. Fang smiled at him, thankful he had been so kind to Iggy. It always made Iggy happy when someone complimented him or said that he was cool or nice or funny. He really loved it, even if he acted embarrassed.

"I liked that guy. He was nice." Iggy said as they approached Jeb.

"Yah. He liked you."

"Everyone likes me, Fang. Anyone who says they don't are just in denial." Iggy said, standing up straight and gesturing grandly with his hand.

"you're such a bonehead." Fang said with a laugh.

Everyone met back at just the right time. Nudge skipped up, holding Max's hand, swinging her pink paper Limited Too bag. Max had her bag from Aeropostale. Fang held his and Iggy's bags, and Jeb had a cart full of clothes for himself and the little kids.

"Everyone seems to have had a successful shopping excursion." He said with a smile, handing the kids their coats and replacing them with their bags.

"Yes it was so much fun! I love shopping!" Nudge announced. Max laughed at her excitement.

"What about you boys?"

"I got the best sweater ever." Iggy said. "And a funny tee shirt." He smiled.

"I got jeans and a few long sleeve shirts…A Led Zeppelin shirt." Fang shrugged.

"great. I'm proud of you guys. You went shopping all by yourselves. No help at all. And the police didn't show up! Or the local news station!" the kids laughed. They knew Jeb had to be very careful and not make a scene with the kids around, for they were technically wanted by the government, but Jeb always made light of it, making jokes about how they were police magnets and whatnot. He held the door for the kids and they paraded out to the car.

"I'm glad you guys had fun." Jeb said as he helped Gazzy buckle his seat belt.

"I think we should go shopping every day!" Nudge said, holding her new stuffed puppy.

"I've created a monster…" Jeb said to himself.

(That wasn't well written at all. Sorry. I sort of just had an idea and wanted to write it down. Hope you like it anyway! *shrug*)


End file.
